the main cause of farmers’ suicide here. The loss incurred by cotton farmers year after year is the main reason for farmers’ suicide in Maharashtra. 2. Most of the farmers committing suicide have been landowners and not the landless labourers. Therefore, the arguments put forward by some progressive intellectuals and journalists who attributed lack of land reforms and measures like that as the main cause for these suicides appeared to be childish. 3. Most of the farmers committing suicides were harassed by the unjust and cruel methods of recovery of debts adopted by the cooperative societies. These cooperative societies were the worst lenders. The private banks didn’t use very cruel methods for recovery because they were not inclined to invite wrath of the villagers. Private money lenders also did not resort to very harsh methods because eventually they had to maintain the goodwill of the villagers amongst whom they were staying. The usual practice of blaming private money lenders for all such suicides was meaningless. When Maharashtra home minister used language like “we shall skin these private moneylenders alive”, most of the private money lenders simply stopped lending money to the farmers. Even the local shopkeepers stopped giving them goods on credit as before. The worst-hit were the farmers themselves. Harsh steps like threatening a farmer, to confiscate his land and house for the recovery were taken only by the cooperative institutions backed by the Government. 4. A farmer committing suicide would already be feeling very helpless having lost the battle with nature and with Government. When the officials of the cooperative societies would come to his doorstep for recovery and threaten him he would be very scared. He could not face that indignity. He began to think that it would be better to end his life rather than face such ordeal year after year. When White Gold Turned Red
Q
169
