Punjab’s loan waiver scheme, changing from a promise of covering all farmers to only a fraction, has met with heavy criticism. The result is it has been sent back to the drawing board for a complete overhaul of the mechanism to identify beneficiaries. To understand whether the help of Rs 2 lakh would help prevent suicides, The Tribune visited the families of 12 of the 14 farmers whose suicide was reported in the paper in September 2017. Two were farm labourers whose families had shifted to Rajasthan, and could not be traced. September-October is a particularly stressful time of the year for farmers, with income from the last crop nearly used up, wedding season coming up, and finances to be arranged for the next crop. The case studies were instructive in that they revealed how debt waiver may not be exactly the tool for suicide prevention, even as it may help other distressed farmers. The survey was done between November and January, and in some cases the family circumstances may have changed since.
Loan waiver eligibility
The eligibility for farmers to avail of the loan waiver is they should be “small” (up to 5 acres) or “marginal” (up to 2.5 acres); should not be in government service or retired from government service. For a marginal farmer, loan of up to Rs 2 lakh will be waived, even if the total debt amount is higher. For a small farmer, no waiver will be available in case he has loan of over Rs 2 lakh. Only institutional loans are eligible for waiver, not those from private individuals such as arhtiyas.
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Baljit Singh, 49
Farm labourer, Bhullarwala village, Muktsar
Committed suicide along with four-year-old son Varinder Singh on September 12.
Trigger: Elder daughter was of marriageable age, but he was unable to clear his previous loans. Had taken a loan of nearly Rs 2 lakh from village residents but his family was unaware of the exact amount. Creditors were approaching them for money.
Help: Tehal Singh, brother of the deceased, said no financial help was sought from or given by the government. Being a farmhand, getting loans without collateral from financial institutions was not possible. The state did not have a policy to help people like him and their only bet is arhtiyas and moneylenders.
Gurdeep Singh Bhullar, 49
Farmer, Ennakhera village, Malout
Consumed a poisonous substance on September 2.
Trigger: Gurdeep had a debt of Rs 16.5 lakh — Rs 8 lakh from a bank and Rs 8.5 lakh from an arhtiya. He had met with a major road accident in 2012 and was battling various health issues since then. Besides, his three children – two daughters and a son – were of marriageable age. He was also renovating his house.
Help: No financial help was sought. The debt amount is too big to be covered by the waiver scheme. Would not have covered such a big amount.
Puran Ram, 55
Farm labourer, Bhagsar village, Muktsar
Committed suicide by hanging on September 16.
Trigger: He was battling cancer and lived off loans raised from villagers. His two sons were unmarried and he had a debt of Rs 2.5 lakh.
Help: Raja Ram, son of the deceased, claimed they never received any financial help, not even for cancer. Contrary to medical schemes and tall claims by the government that they were underwriting medical expenses, the reality is many slip through the gaps. Staff in hospitals do not guide such patients, who are unaware how to seek treatment or reimbursement. Illiteracy and cumbersome paperwork are major stumbling blocks.
Banwari Lal, 48
Farm labourer, Bazidpur Kattianwali (Abohar)
Left home on August 29 without informing anyone; his body was found in the Gang (Bikaner) Canal on August 31 near Azamwala village.
Trigger: He was unable to repay a debt of Rs 4.5 lakh, which he had taken from landlords over two years. It was used for the treatment of his son, Raj Kumar (18), for removing a brain tumour the previous year at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital. The medicine bill was Rs 6,000 per month. Banwari had also taken loans for the weddings of his two daughters. His elder brother, Duli Chand, said his brother had leased 11 acres a few years ago. He suffered losses in 2015 when the nearby drain overflowed and damaged the cotton crop. The next year he grew wheat on three acres, but the income was not sufficient to meet household and treatment expenses.
Help: Since he did not own land, no loan could be raised from a bank or cooperative society, his neighbours explained. No help was extended by the state despite assurances by some political activists and officials. The problem again is that without collateral no loans are given by financial institutions. Moneylenders remain the only source, but they demand very high interest.
Dalvir Singh, 37
Farmer, Saron village, Sangrur
Committed suicide on September 3
Trigger: Had a debt of Rs 20-22 lakh from banks and other sources. The amount from friends, relatives and arhtiyas was around Rs 3 lakh. Repeated crop failures and ever escalating cost of renovation of this house and failure to arrange money from various sources triggered the suicide.
Help: His family and friends said they did not have any information about the extent of his stress, but were aware that he was under debt. Dalvir could have hardly benefitted from the debt waiver scheme, as the extent of debt was way too high.
Balkar Singh, 31
Farmer, Chhajla village, Sangrur
Committed suicide on September 18.
Trigger: Owed Rs 8 lakh that he had raised to send his wife to Cyprus, and for sinking a new tubewell. His father, Jwala Singh, said he did not know the exact amount taken from a bank, but Balkar had also borrowed from moneylenders.
Help: Family members said they did not have any idea he would commit suicide. Part loan waiver would still have left banks and moneylenders harassing him for the remaining amount. It was perhaps a case of misplaced priorities. But with the falling water table, and the need to sink tubewells deeper, it were recurring costs that kept them afloat but burdened.
Gurmail Singh
Farmer, Pashore village, Sangrur
Committed suicide on September 29.
Trigger: Had failed to arrange money for the wedding of his daughter, and owed Rs 5 lakh to moneylenders. Owned just one acre, and was failing to meet family expenses.
Help: The family does not know if he sought any state help, but no official visited them after the suicide. He would not have benefitted as the amount he owed was over the debt waiver limit.
Pippal Singh
Farmer, Kot Sadar Khan village, Moga
Committed suicide on September 12.
Trigger: Facing social stigma and depression due to debt of Rs 6 lakh; he owned just 2 acres. He had taken Rs 3 lakh from a bank, Rs 2 lakh from an arhtiya and Rs 1 lakh from a cooperative society. Had night blindness, due to which he had stopped driving a truck. Moreover, no villager leased land to him and he was deprived of his source of extra income, his own holding being very small.
Help: No help was sought from the government. Could have received partial relief under the debt waiver scheme, but a large part of the debt would have remained. Raising a family on proceeds of two acres was not possible, not to mention paying interest on the loan.
Jaswant Singh, 38
Farmer, Ghumiara village, Muktsar
Committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance on September 22, died three days later.
Trigger: Was unable to clear debt of Rs 6 lakh and bank officials and a commission agent were repeatedly contacting him for the same. He was also suffering from a liver disease, according to elder brother Lachhman Singh.
Help: No financial help was sought or given by the government. Getting loans from banks was an uphill task, so arhtiyas was the only option.
Bhagwan Singh, 50
Farmer, bhattiwal village, Sangrur
Took his own life on September 11.
Trigger: He was unable to arrange even for seed to sow the next crop. Son Karamjit said Bhagwan was under debt of Rs 3 lakh, of which Rs 2 lakh was from a bank and the remaining from an arhtiya. The family owned only three acres and had no additional source of income.
Help: The family had no clue he was contemplating suicide. Returning the loan to the arhtiya would have required sale of part of the land.
Gurnaib Singh, 46
Farmer, Ram Niwas village, Maur
Consumed poison on September 28.
Trigger: Was unable to repay a loan of Rs 20.5 lakh. Had wife, two daughters and a son. Mohinder Singh, father, said Gurnaib owed Rs 6 lakh to pesticide dealers, Rs 5 lakh to the cooperative society at Dhadhe village, and Rs 9.5 lakh to the SBI branch at Maur Mandi. The deceased owned five acres, but only three had been cultivated. Their cotton crop had been damaged by stray animals and Gurnaib was shattered after that loss.
Help: No government official contacted him or gave them financial help. Could have qualified for partial help under the debt waiver scheme, but the amount would not have helped him much. Despite landholding, farming had become unviable. Cotton had started failing despite costly inputs. The stray cattle menace only added to his misery.
Mewa Singh, 36
Farm labourer, Ghodenab village, Sangrur
Committed suicide on September 29.
Trigger: Took his life as he could not arrange money for the wedding of his sister. His relatives knew he was under debt, but did not have any figure as he kept to himself.
Help: The family did not have any inkling of the impending suicide, but were critical of the state as they had not received relief even after two months. As he was a farmhand, he was not eligible for loan waiver.
Inputs from Parvesh Sharma, Kulwinder Sandhu, Archit Watts, Raj Sadosh; compiled by Amarjit Thind
