UP chief minister Mayawati has written yet another letter to the Prime Minister urging him to waive off the loans of the farmers of Bundelkhand region.
The chief minister said that loans distributed to the farmers till March 31, 2011 should be included in this special plan.
The chief minister’s letter comes after another farmer suicide was reported from Jhansi on Saturday.
In her letter sent to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ms Mayawati has said that Bundelkhand has difficult geographical conditions and the economy of this area is mainly based on agriculture, owing to which the farmers of this area are facing many hardships.
She said that lack of all-round development of Bundelkhand by previous governments had taken its toll and this area had become economically backward.
Referring to her previous letter dated January 13, 2008, in which she had underlined the drought conditions prevailing in the Bundelkhand region, the chief minister said that her requests for financial packages for Bundelkhand had gone unnoticed.
She pointed out that her government had made maximum efforts to improve the economic conditions of Bundelkhand area. Directives had already been issued to the officers for no harassment of farmers for the loans up to `2 lakhs.
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Debt-ridden farmer in Jhansi kills himself
age correspondent
Lucknow
June 18: Days after the Allahabad high court sought a report from Uttar Pradesh government on the farmers’ suicides in Bundelkhand region, yet another such suicide has come to light in Jhansi district.
Nathuram Pal, a 45-year-old farmer in Nibhaghana village of Garautha tehsil, committed suicide by hanging himself with on a “babool” tree on Friday night.
SDM of Garautha, Gyaneshwar Prasad, confirmed the incident and said that investigations into the reasons behind the suicide were on.