Thakhazhi: “Running short of funds, he often borrowed money at usurious interest rates to raise crops. The proceeds from the sale of crops won’t be sufficient to repay the loans and start cultivation again in the next season. All the calculations will go wrong with each day of delay in getting the money from the government,” rued Omana, the wife of farmer K G Prasad, who recently died by suicide. She and her children are yet to come to terms with the loss as they stare at an uncertain future from inside their small house in Thakazhi in the Alappuzha district.
Initially, Prasad indulged in sand harvesting, but following a ban on the activity, he soon turned to agriculture.
"We've been incurring heavy losses for the last few years due to incessant rains and floods. Even if we cultivate crops worth Rs two lakh, it would take some time for the government to procure the same and allot us the money. Therefore, we have no choice but to borrow money at high-interest rates for the next season, Rs 10 for every Rs 100," Omana said, while tears rolled out of her eyes.
Only 10 days ago, Prasad sowed paddy seeds in a four-acre padashekaram (collection of agricultural fields) but soon ran out of money to buy manures, fertilisers, and all. “He had accounts with two banks but couldn’t get loans from anywhere. That made him upset. I left for my daily wage work after he proceeded to the field on that fateful day. I saw him for the last time at the hospital in Thiruvalla. I couldn’t say a word,” Omana said.
Prashant, Prasad’s cousin, said the latter had quit drinking 20 years ago. And it was some of their relatives, who dropped in by their house after attending a function, who saw him in an inebriated condition on that day.
“’ I’ve failed in life, please help my wife and children’. That’s what Prasad told them then. There was a pungent smell coming, and they spotted the poison bottle. He walked by himself and boarded the auto (while being rushed to the hospital,” Prashant recalled.
Prasad (55) consumed poison on Friday and died at the hospital early on Saturday. According to primary reports, he was upset over the banks denying him loans and couldn’t continue cultivation after he ran out of money. He left behind a suicide note in which he accused both the government and the banks of pushing him into penury.
