Afroz Alam Sahil, BeyondHeadlines
New Delhi. Data from National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) says that every twelve hours a Farmer in India Commits Suicide. Now the question is when Farmers commit suicide, what does the officials of Ministry of Agriculture Do?
Here is the answer. When debt ridden farmers end their lives, the department of Agriculture and Cooperation officials read Stardust and Femina Miss India to swallow their sorrow.
It might seem ridiculous but the reply to an RTI filed by BeyondHeadlines says that The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation has subscribed to Magazines like stardust and Cosmopolitan.
The Department has total subscription of 42 Newspapers and 88 Magazines. In last five years the department has spent a total of 2359111 Rs on just Magazines and Newspapers.
We appreciate that the officials should read newspapers and magazines to keep them updated with latest news. The News also give them understanding of the ground reality.
But what surprises is that why should a Agricultural Ministry official read magazines like champak, chandamama, children’s world, cosmopolitan, cricket Samarat, Alive, Femina, Filmfare, Good House Keeping, Grahlaxmi, Grahon ka Khel, Grahshobha, Kadambini, Life Positive, Manohar Kahaniya, Meri Saheli, Mukta, Nandan, Navneet, Nirogadham, Sportstar, Stardust, Swamy’s News, Vanita, Women’s era and Sarita to name a few.
Now the question is, why should a Department of Agriculture & Cooperation subscribe to magazines like stardust and Cosmopolitan? The facts about Farmers suicide may answer this question. According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data from 2009, more than 216, 000 farmers have killed themselves since 1997. Add the figures for 1995, 1996 and 2010 and the total crosses 250,000. That is, two farmers a day for the past 15 years.
