562 farmers have killed themselves since June, claims opposition Telugu Desam Party.
The Telugu Desam Party organised a
dharna or demonstration in Hyderabad, with the widows and children of nearly 100 farmers who have killed themselves in Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's home district of Medak.
The women and children sat on a stage, holding photos of their father or their husband, who committed suicide after their crops failed repeatedly and they were no longer able to carry their debt burden.
Sapna, 25, cradled her infant baby as she made a teary appeal. "I have a debt of Rs 4 lakh and I have two baby girls. My husband killed himself. Please help me and my two children.''
The TDP claims that 562 farmers have killed themselves since the KCR-led Telangana Rashtra Samiti government came to power in June. "We have the complete list with the names and villages from where the farmers have killed themselves. How can the government deny this,'' said party leader Errabelli Dayakar.
The
dharna took place just hours after the Chief Minister held a review meeting with top officials on the state government's decision to double the salaries of all elected representatives, including ministers.
The legislators - members of the state assembly and legislative council - at present draw a salary of Rs. 95,000 a month each. The new salary will be two lakh rupees each.
TRS legislator Jupally Krishna Rao tried to defend the hike, claiming, "Corruption is rampant. In order to control it, investigate it and ensure things run smoothly, we need to travel, do many things, so nothing wrong with it. Ultimately, it is to ensure that the government does its job well.''
The tragedy of Telangana region has been that whichever party is in power -- whether it is TDP, Congress or the TRS - it tries to downplay the issue of farmer suicides, while the opposition party rakes up the worrying number of such deaths.