New Delhi: It is an irony difficult to be missed. On one hand is the plight of farmers in Gulbarga, Karnataka, who see no end to their woes. Hit hard by drought, and an agonising wait for funds to be released by the government, these farmers are falling deeper into debt.
On the other hand, there came news of Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah buying a water-proof saree as a gift for his wife Parvathi. Siddaramaiah bought the orange-coloured saree as a present during the inauguration of the Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation in Davanagere.
More interestingly, to be sure of the saree actually being water-proof, the CM asked for water and poured it on the saree just to be sure. The cost of this special present-over Rs 1 lakh.
Farmers of Karnataka have been faced with a tough two years on account of the continuing dry spell and the subsequent crop loss.
Moreover, they have repeatedly raised questions to the CM demanding answers as to why they have been allowed to become victims at the hands of the state government when the central government has already released a relief package of 227 million USD to the state.
Regardless, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka is yet to decide the compensation to the farmers.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau of India, nearly 5,650 farmers committed suicide in 2014.
The highest number of farmer's suicides was recorded in 2004 with18,241 farmers committed suicide.
The average number of farmer's suicide has ranged between 1.4 to 1.8 per 100,000 total population, over a 10-year period from 2005.
