A NABARD study reveals that farmers are being pushed into financial distress due to rising input costs, no increase in income, and difficulties in accessing government schemes, says E.A.S. Sarma. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
Former IAS officer E.A.S. Sarma has written to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, requesting that the government bail out the tenant farmers reeling under financial distress and a study be undertaken to analyse the reasons for farmer suicides and formulate pro-farmer policies.
Citing a National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) study, 2023, and a story ‘Lives Caught in Debt and Despair’ by The Hindu, published on August 22, Mr. Sarma pointed out that in the region of Guntur-Palnadu, 88% farmers, 90% of them tenants, were in debt. Most of them depend on private money lenders due to lack of an easy access to credit from banks, he wrote.
The NABARD study reveals that farmers are being pushed into financial distress due to rising input costs, no increase in income, and difficulties in accessing the government schemes, Mr. Sarma wrote.
Citing the studies done by the NABARD and Rythu Swarajya Vedika, Mr. Sarma said not every tenant farmer has a Crop Cultivator Rights Card, rendering many government welfare schemes inaccessible to them.
He said all families affected by suicides in Palnadu region between 2014 and 2025, as per the District Crime Records Bureau (DCRB) data, should be given ex gratia in accordance to the G.O. 43.
In response to an RTI query by Rythu Swarajya Vedika, the DCRB had said that 399 farmer suicides were recorded in Palnadu district between January 1, 2014, and February 3, 2025.
Mr. Sarma said the State government should take up a study involving experts, analyse the reasons behind suicides and formulate pro-farmer policies within two months.
Steps must be taken to ensure that all tenant farmers get the CCRCs and have easy access to crop insurance, he wrote.
Published – August 24, 2025 08:26 am IST
