BERHAMPUR: Three days after two farmers committed suicide in Ganjam district, the district administration on Tuesday claimed that the suicides were not due to crop loss and loan burden.
The deceased were Prasanna Sahu (47) of Pudugeswar Palli area within Aska tehsil limits and G Ghanashyam Dora (41) of Chadheyapada village under Beguniapada block. Both had consumed pesticide last week.
Sources said Prasanna had consumed pesticide on December 13 owing to crop loss. He had cultivated crop on 12 acres of land on share-cropping basis but suffered loss due to lack of rain and irrigation water. Similarly, Dora had borrowed Rs 50,000 to cultivate paddy in six acres of land. As the crop was damaged, he was worried about repaying the money and consumed pesticide on December 15.
Following the deaths, the district administration had formed two committees headed by Deputy Director of Agriculture Sudarshan Mohanty, Aska Tehsildar Dharanidhar Behera and Kodala Tehsildar Rabi Narayan Sahu. The committee members visited both the villages and submitted the inquiry reports to the Collector.
According to the reports, Prasanna was a landless farmer and had raised groundnut and vegetables on 1.6 decimal land on share-cropping basis.
He had obtained a loan of Rs 15,000 from an SHG in February this year. He had repaid the money in November. Dora owned 1.2 decimal land and cultivated paddy and vegetables on six acres of land on share-cropping basis. He had taken Rs 15,000 from three persons of his village at a nominal interest rate.
The reports stated that both the farmers ended their lives following family feud.