http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20070010151
Bundelkhand hit by farmer suicides NDTV Correspondent Friday, April 27, 2007 (Bundelkhand) Bundelkhand in Uttar Pradesh is hit by suicides by farmers due to debt yet hunger and depravation has never been a poll plank. But this time around those who lost their kin to suicides are not ready to let go. During the last few days campaigners have been facing many hurdles. Bundelkhand's 70,000 square miles is hostile terrain for crops. When it comes to water both the government and the Gods failed the farmers. ''Whenever someone commits a suicide or there is a big incident only then the administrators come. They assure us and leave,'' says social activist Bobby. The area is dominated by Dalits - who vote but without aspirations and without returns. Seventy-five percent of farmers in the are make a living from agriculture. Upto 55 per cent live below the poverty line. The average per capita daily income is Rs 20. Ex-minister Gaya Charan Dinker says, ''we conducted a survey in co-operation with the central government and 60 per cent of the people of Bundelkhand find it difficult to gather meal a day''. Those who have survived will be voting on April 28th. Members of a democracy that gives them no yield like the barren land they live.
