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Having recently formed government in Karnataka, the Minister for sugarcane development and APMC, Shivnand Patil gave shocking remark on farmer suicides. He claimed in an interaction to the media that farmer suicides have risen after state government hiked compensation for their families.
The opposition BJP is now planning to mount an attack on the Minister for his irresponsible statement. BJP leader Amit Malviya termed it a shocking display of insensitivity. Many farmer organizations also began registering their protest to this statement and that is when the Minister clarified that he did not mean that farmers are committing suicides to claim compensation.
But the controversy is not dying down and the demands for his resignation is growing. Farmer leaders Hasiru Sene and Mallikarjun Ballari demanded to know if the Minister will commit suicide if the farmers promise compensation of Rs 50 lakhs to his family.
The Minister also said that it was wrong to report farmer death cases as suicides as soon as the FIR is registered and assured that compensation is being distributed to families of farmers who have committed suicides.
