PULPPALLY: Once Pulppally was identified for its pepper. Now there are trees sans any pepper wine on the farmlands on both sides of the roads. Pulpally was the centre of farmers' suicides five years ago. In the 2006 Assembly polls, farmers' suicides were a hot topic of debate. Farmers' suicides have once again become a focal point in this election too. The sudden fall in the price of pepper and the attack of diseases on the crop have hit the farmers in Pulpally hard. Those who received up to 2,000 kg of pepper a year, has harvested merely 50 kg. The price also has touched the nadir.
In 1999, the price of 1 kg of pepper was Rs 250 which crashed to Rs 50 in 2004. This led to a serious crisis in the pepper-rich areas of Pulpally. Padichira, a village which witnessed a series of suicides, is still nursing the pains of those days. "Over 100 persons, including 52 farmers, committed suicide in the village having a population of 25,000 before 2006," says Jose Pazhookkaran, a noted writer and local resident. "Though the rate of suicides came down, the widows of the farmers still live in extreme poverty," he says.
Eliamma, the wife of Kurian Pathikkal who committed suicide in 2002, is leading a lonely life with the fond memories of her husband near Infant Jesus Church at Chettankavala. "We had two acres of land. The fall started after the price of pepper crashed and with the onslaught of diseases," she says.
"He was industrious and always kept his commitments. But things went wrong as debt increased," she adds. Leaving behind his son and wife, Kurian ended his life. Since then, Eliamma has been struggling to make both ends meet. With the help of relatives, she sent her son Jose for general nursing course. Her land is pawned with a local financier who helped her settle the loans with the bank. When asked about the Assembly election, she was sad. "Why don't the governments plan packages to assist the widows and offspring of the victims?" she asks. Apart from the Rs 50,000solatium and farm loan write off up to Rs 25,000, she did not get anything to improve her life. Between 2002 and 2004, six suicides were reported from the locality. A few yards off the house of Kurian is the house of Ibrahim who supplied cow dung, an ideal manure for pepper. The crash of pepper affected him too. When the farmers failed to pay the arrears, his calculations went wrong. "Apart from the Rs 50,000 solatium, we did not get any financial aid as we were not farmers," says Rahiyanath, wife of Ibrahim. She is yet to decide whether to vote or not. The house of the late Thomas Puzhakkarayil, a farmer who had won the Karshakasree Award for the best farmer instituted by the Mullankolly panchayat, wears a deserted look now. An ardent farmer, he had toiled day and night. When his efforts proved futile, he decided to end all miseries. With two children, Viji, his wife, has been struggling since his death. Viji sold out most of the land to pay the debt. "This year I received only 20 kg of pepper. A cow received under the Vidharbha package is my only source of income," she adds. The meagre income from selling milk is quite insufficient to get things going. "The price of cattle-feed is skyrocketing. The instalment of loan is to be remitted. And in between we have to live," she adds.
Interestingly, none of the leaders have visited the houses of these widows during the last five years. Neither have they planned anything serious to improve the living conditions of these widows.
"The government should adopt those families. If this is the way we are treating the widows and children of the farmers, how can we persuade the next generation to do farming?" Pazhookkaran asks. Will this election be any different?