Madhya Pradesh agriculture minister Balkrishna Patidar was asked to comment on farmer suicides.
Who doesn't commit suicide - from businessmen to police chiefs, suicide is a global problem: This is what the agriculture minister of Madhya Pradesh, Balkrishna Patidar, had to say about farmer suicides in his state.
"Suicide kaun nahi karta? (Who doesn't commit suicide?)
Vyapaari karta hai, police commissioner bhi karta hai. Yeh poore world ki problem hai. (Businessmen, police commissioners also commit suicide. It is a global problem)
Suicide ka kaaran jo suicide kar rha hai sirf usse pata hai. Hum log sirf andaaza lagaate hain" (Only the people who commit suicide know the reason, we can only guess), Mr Patidar told news agency ANI on Sunday.
The remarks came from the minister of a state, which has seen over 20 per cent rise in farmer suicides since 2013. The union agriculture minister, Purushottam Rupala, on March 20, had informed the Lok Sabha that there was a 21 per cent rise in farmer suicides in Madhya Pradesh.
Madhya Pradesh has seen a wave of farmer protests in 2017. Three
farmers allegedly committed suicide in 24 hours, in last June. Acute agrarian distress culminated in clashes between farmers and the police in Mandsaur, where five farmers were killed in police firing on June 6, last year.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in February, had announced a slew of sops for farmers as the state heads to assembly elections early next year. After unprecedented farmer protests earlier this year, Madhya Pradesh has become the first state to announce bonus on wheat crop over and above the minimum support price. At a farmers' rally in Bhopal, the Chief Minister had announced that farmers will be paid Rs 200 for every 100 kg of wheat sold to the government, under the Chief Minister's
Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojna. The Chief Minister has also announced interest waiver on farm loans in his state.
(With inputs from ANI, PTI)