The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday issued notice to Telangana government over the suicide committed by 76 debt-ridden farmers in the state.
An official statement said a notice was issued in this regard to the chief secretary, government of Telangana, calling for a report in the matter within two weeks.
The notice was issued after the commission took suo motu cognizance of a media report that 76 farmers committed suicide in Telangana since its formation.
“Thousands of farmers are caught in a vicious cycle of debt due to low yields or total crop failure and there has been constant pressure from moneylenders, and when it does not rain, all they can think of is escaping it by taking their own lives,“ the statement said.
The state government had announced a scheme of loan waiver to farmers, but, an order issued by on August 13, stated that the scheme would cover only institutional loans and not loans from non-institutional sources.The commission said that the contents of the press report raised serious issues of human rights’ violation.