HYDERABAD, 13 July 2004 — Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy yesterday announced a judicial probe into a spate of suicides by farmers in the state.
He told the state legislative assembly that the inquiry would go into all cases of suicides reported during the nine-year rule of Telugu Desam Party and the two-month rule of the present Congress government.
He made the announcement in the course of an acrimonious debate on the issue marked by angry exchanges between the chief minister and leader of opposition and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as to who was responsible for the present plight of farmers.
Spelling out the terms of reference of the judicial probe, YSR said the inquiry would be conducted into all the farm-related suicides, their numbers and causes.
The terms would include as to whether the previous TDP government or the present Congress was responsible for these suicides.
The chief minister said that an expert commission on agriculture would also go into the entire gamut of agricultural operations, measures for toning up the sector and farmers’ suicides.
Intervening in the debate on the demands for grants for agriculture sector, YSR said that his government was very much concerned over the farmers’ suicides and it had initiated a series of measures to provide relief to the hapless farmers who had suffered utter neglect during the previous TDP regime.
He claimed that the farmers were committing suicide even now, because of the problems accumulated during the TDP regime.
He claimed that 3,000 farmers committed suicide during TDP’s 9-year rule while only 127 farmers ended their lives since he took over as chief minister two months ago.
