Farmer gone, daughter takes centrestage, seeks answers

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 18

“My only hope is you will live up to the promises you are making,” remarked a wary Kiranjeet Kaur, daughter of a farmer from Jhunir village in Mansa who ended his life owing to debt. She was responding to assurances by members of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha committee on farm suicides Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra (SAD) and Nazar Singh Manshahia (AAP). 

“The entire political class will be shamed if you do not keep your word,” she warned, reminding them of the tall promises made prior to the Assembly elections. Kiranjeet, pursuing a PG diploma in computer applications, had brought along scores of families of other victims of Punjab’s agrarian crisis to the Kisan Bhawan here on Sunday. One by one, each of them poured their hearts out. 

Tearing into the belief that an extravagant lifestyle, including fat weddings, had pushed Punjab farmers into a debt trap, she recalled: “When my father committed suicide in April 2016, he was under a Rs 8-lakh debt. A year earlier, our cotton crop was damaged in a white fly attack. Some time later, I was bitten by a snake. With the government hospital lacking facilities, my father rushed me to a private hospital in Bathinda. We were charged Rs 2 lakh. The government has washed its hands of providing healthcare to the people. My father was forced to spend a hefty sum to save my life. Is that luxury?” she asked angrily.

A year after her father’s death, the gutsy Kiranjeet visited 80 villages in Mansa to find more families like hers.  Today, her initative has taken the shape of “Committee for Farmers and Families of Agrarian Suicide Victims”, with members from Moga, Barnala, Mansa, Sangrur and Patiala.

At an event organised by the committee, agriculture experts Devinder Sharma and Gian Singh and social activists were present too.