Bangalore, June 27: When a 60-year-old sugarcane farmer set fire to his standing crop and walked into the inferno on Thursday, it was a stark reminder.
The crushing burden of debt has been exacting its toll for far too long.
Ningegowda, who couldn't raise money to repay the Rs 1.5 lakh he had taken as loan last year, was the latest farmer in Karnataka to commit suicide.
Till last year, over 500 had already ended their lives since 2009, according to state government figures.
Ningegowda's suicide in Pandavapura, in Mandya district, some 130km from Bangalore, has united the Opposition that is now targeting the ruling Congress.
On the same day, some 750km to the north in Gulbarga district, two cane farmers attempted suicide in front of a sugar factory that owed them money for their crops.
That followed the alleged suicide of two other debt-ridden farmers last week - one in Srirangapatna, near Mandya, and the other in Belgaum.
While Congress floor managers are busy working to ensure a smooth Assembly session set to begin on Monday, these incidents have put the government in a spot.
Ningegowda, whose charred body was found in what was left of his crop, had been offered just Rs 750 a tonne by a few buyers he had approached, his family members told the local media.
When apparently hounded by some moneylenders who had loaned him the Rs 1.5 lakh to raise the crop, he chose to end his life.
The Rs 750 the buyers are alleged to have offered Ningegowda for every tonne (1,000 kilos) of raw cane is less than a third of the minimum support price of Rs 2,500 the government had fixed in November 2013.
That followed state-wide protests over the suicide of Vittala Arbhavi, a bankrupt cane farmer. But official sources said hardly anyone benefited, as most mills still owed money to farmers.
This week, in a knee-jerk reaction after Ningegowda's suicide, the government ordered confiscation of sugar stocks from 55 of the 70 functioning mills across the state, the country's fourth largest sugar producer. The plan is to auction the stocks and clear the arrears due to farmers.
Too little, too late, says the Opposition.
"The state government is responsible for his (Ningegowda's) death. They could have forced the sugar mills to pay the minimum price," said Opposition leader Jagadish Shettar.
"Use money from the exchequer to pay off farmers and prevent more tragedies and collect the money by selling the seized sugar," the former BJP chief minister added.
JDS leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, another former chief minister, also urged the government to first pay the farmers and then auction the existing stocks. "Farmers of other crops are facing similar problems. They too might be forced to take extreme steps if the government doesn't act immediately," he warned.
Minister for co-operation Mahadeva Prasad said the government hopes to raise Rs 923 crore by selling the stocks seized.
Problem solved? Pawan Kumar doesn't think so.
Kumar, president of the South Indian Sugar Mills Association, said several mills had pledged their stocks to raise loans. "The mills won't be able to repay their loans if the government seizes stocks," he told reporters.
There's another problem, too. Sugar prices have crashed from Rs 3,000 a quintal to Rs 1,900. "We have been incurring losses and are unable to clear the arrears (due to farmers)," Kumar said.
Agrarian expert R.S. Deshpande said the single biggest reason for farmers taking their lives was the absence of any shock absorbers when faced with mounting loans. "Of course, after such suicides, everyone will be there. But nothing is learnt," the former director of the Institute of Social and Economic Change told The Telegraph.
Figures tell the story. Between 2009 and 2014, 509 cases of farmer suicides have been reported in the state. The only redeeming feature of this tale of debt and death is the number of suicides has fallen. While 2009 saw 145 cases, 2014 recorded 50 suicides, according to government figures.
Asked why farmers preferred to approach village moneylenders when governments have been promising easy loans, Deshpande hinted at the unfriendly attitude of banks. "There has to be a reason why farmers are opting for loans at 120 per cent interest and not the 12 per cent offered by commercial banks," he said.
It couldn't be confirmed if any of the farmers who committed or attempted suicide had approached any government bank for loans.
Economist Narendra Pani said: "There's a great deal of shame in the farming community if loans are not repaid. It's part of larger cultural responses that lead a farmer to suicide if his pride and status is hurt."
Pani, who teaches at the city's National Institute of Advanced Studies, suggested a solution. "There's no need to cut down the cultivable area or on the produce," he said. "Just wean away the excess manpower that's adding pressure to small holdings."