Harsh Norms Make Ex Gratia Elusive
HYDERABAD: Five years have gone by in Nandamma’s relentless struggle to receive the ex gratia paid to the families of farmers who committed suicide. Her husband consumed pesticide in March 2011 following crop failure and mounting debts.
With three girl children to look after, Nandamma, a resident of Begumpeta village in Nalgonda district, has made numerous appeals to authorities concerned but to no avail. The reality of Telangana getting statehood rekindled her fading hope but that was not to be as her dream still remains distant.
Her travails are not a one-off occurrence but a common problem with scores of victim-families, whose years of running around government offices went in vain. According to the National Crime Records’ Bureau(NCRB), as many as 29,705 farmers in Telangana hve committed suicide after GO No.Ms 421, which mandates providing ex gratia to victims’ families, was issued in 2004. However, of these only 4,200 families received the financial aid, official sources said, pointing out the inordinate delay in the process.
More depressingly, attempts have been made to portray ‘genuine’ framers’ suicides as a result of family feuds, consumption of illicit liquor, etc.
Although the state government’s decision to enhance the ex gratia to bereaved families from existing Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 6 lakh is hailed, fears abound that unless the “convoluted” and “cumbersome” process is minimised, the financial aid would not reach the beneficiaries. Such is the process that the authorities insist on as many as 13 documents. These include documents pertaining to debts taken from private money lenders, tenancy certificate in case of tenant farmers and forensic scientific lab report.
“For instance, the average age of farmers who have committed suicide in Telangana is 36 years. When a bereaved family seeks compensation, authorities insist that the land must have been registered with the farmer who had committed suicide. But generally, as per the Indian tradition, lands are registered in the name of the elders of the family such as parents. In some cases, the deceased might be a tenant farmer,” says Kondal Reddy of Rythu Swarajya Vedika .
The three-man committee of the revenue department, which ascertains whether a case can be considered as genuine or not, is another hurdle in the speedy redress of the families’ grievances. Even though local police endorse the veracity of a farmer’s suicide, the claims of several families have been rejected by three-men committee.
NOT SO GRACEFUL
● NCRB report says 29,705 farmers committed suicide in Telangana after GO No.Ms 421 was issued in 2004.
● The GO mandates payment of ex gratia for suicides on account of crop failure and debts
● But only 4,200 families have been paid gratia in over 11 years.
● Cumbersome and convoluted process deny the bereaved kin the aid which has now been hiked from Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 6 lakh.
● Claims of the families of tenant farmers are often rejected.
● Insistence on documentary proof of land ownership, tenancy or debts taken from private moneylenders the main hurdles.