Farmer kills self in C'garh

As per preliminary information, Markam had sown paddy on his 2.731 hectare 6.70 acre of land and was eligible to sell around 100 quintal of paddy at the minimum support price MSP in the cooperative society, Kondagaon Collector Pushpendra Kumar Meena told PTI on Saturday.Markam was found hanging from a tree near his farm in Marangpuri village under Baderajpur development block on December 2, they said.

A 45-year-old farmer allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a tree in a village in Chhattisgarh's Kondagaon district, officials said on Saturday. Family members of the deceased Dhaniram Markam said he was worried over how he would sell paddy crops cultivated on his more than six acres of land after learning that the maximum portion of the farm acreage under paddy production was written off in the government record for the procurement.

Officials said Markam was found hanging from a tree near his farm in Marangpuri village under Baderajpur development block on December 2. "As per preliminary information, Markam had sown paddy on his 2.731 hectare (6.70 acre) of land and was eligible to sell around 100 quintal of paddy at the minimum support price (MSP) in the cooperative society," Kondagaon Collector Pushpendra Kumar Meena told PTI on Saturday.

Markam was found hanging from a tree near his farm in Marangpuri village under Baderajpur development block on December 2, they said. The state government started a paddy procurement drive from December 1 and 15 quintals of paddy per acre is purchased from every registered farmer on MSP.

On December 2, Markam had sent his relative to local Large Area Multi-Purpose Society (LAMPS) to collect a token for selling his paddy when he came to know that he was eligible to sell around 11 quintal as the record showing his area under paddy cultivation as 0.32 hectare (0.79 acre), he said. Next day, he allegedly committed suicide, Meena said.

"A probe conducted by local Sub Divisional Magistrate (Revenue) said multiple factors might have prompted Markam to end his life," he said. According to Markam's family members, the deceased went into depression after his son died two years ago and started consuming liquor, the collector said.

The probe also revealed that the alleged negligence by Patwari (revenue official) resulted in error in the entry of Markam's paddy cultivation area. The Patwari has been suspended and the concerned tehsildar was issued a show-cause notice, he said.

Markam had borrowed around Rs 61,000 from a local cooperative society by the means of fertilisers and seeds, officials said. Meanwhile, BJP national vice president and former chief minister Raman Singh has alleged that the "misrule and poor policies of the state government has claimed the life of another farmer".

"Now the insensitive state government is hell bent on branding the victim farmer as an addict and the Chief Minister is not ashamed of it," Singh said, adding that justice will be done by farmers..