Supreme Court fires on Tamilnadu Govt

New Delhi, July 08: The Supreme Court has been told the Tamil Nadu government to concentrate on preventing farmers suicide and not to go around distributing compensation after they commit suicide. They told here on Friday.

It is the duty of governments to look at the peasants' suicides. A bench headed by Justice Deepak Mishra and Justice AM Kamalikkar made several comments in the case of Tamil Nadu farmers' petition filed by the farmers. The government has to take steps to prevent farmers' crisis rather than paying compensation.

A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and A M Khanwilkar said that "Your approach has to be preventive and not compensatory."

Counsel for an association of Tamil Nadu farmers, Advocate R. Rajaraman, cited loss of dignity as the reason behind farmers’ suicide.



Additional Solicitor General (ASG) PS Narasimha told farmers if the financial institutions are in trouble, the farmers should direct the way to government co-operation. The government wants farmers to get a minimum support price. The bench also criticized the Narasimha bench of the Supreme Court on the grounds that the Prime Minister, Fasal Bima Yojana, had changed the situation more than ever before.

"Banks take coercive steps if farmers fail to pay their agricultural loans. This hurts their dignity and sense of pride. Most of them are small farmers, they opt to take their own lives," Rajaraman said.

Tamil Nadu is battling one of the worst droughts in the past 140 years. A group of farmers from Tamil Nadu had come to Jantar Mantar in April and had agitated for 41 days to get the PM's attention. Their demands included a loan waiver and a drought relief package. Their shocking and novel protests made headlines across the country.

The bench pointed out that the measures taken by financial institutions could not be illegal. The Tamilnadu Government has ordered to answer these issues.