HYDERABAD: Having shadowed his father, a farmer, for several years after dropping out of Intermediate education, 24-year-old Maruthi Kumar does not want to live his father’s life anymore. His 42-year-old father was the most recent farmer in the state to have committed suicide owing to financial crisis.
Narkudi Ramulu of Uppariguda village ended his life by consuming pesticide on Saturday afternoon while his wife and son were waiting for him with food served on the plates.
Ramulu, who cultivated vegetables spinach, brinjal and tomato on 2.4 acres of farmland, was allegedly being harassed by local financiers for repayment of a `2.5 lakh hand loan he had taken six months ago at an interest rate of 2 per cent a month. If Maruthi is sure about something after his father’s death, it is that he does not want to live the life of a farmer. Even with no major source of income, he had to pay an interest of `5,500 a month.
“My father told me about the crop loan only three days before his death. We learnt that they had been forcing him for over a month. We have been unable to earn any income out of our cultivation,” said Maruthi, who used to visit the Malakpet market in the city with their meagre vegetable produce everyday.
According to him, his father had borrowed `2.5 lakh after their crops were damaged six months ago in heavy rains. Since then the family has been going through turbulent times. The idea behind taking a loan was to start cultivation afresh after digging a bore well. But, even after digging to a depth of 250 feet, Ramulu could not find a trace of groundwater.
He somehow managed to pay the interest of `5,500 for a couple of months.
N Ashok, Ramulu’s younger bother who cultivates vegetables on another piece of land in the same village, said his brother had been depressed over certain issues for the last few months. “He never shared with us anything about the debt and repayment with interest,” Ramulu’s brother said. Meanwhile, Ramulu’s family demanded monetary help from the state and a government job for Maruthi.