Congress MLAs meet Uttarakhand CM over farmer suicides

A delegation of Congress MLAs on 22 July called on Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat over a "disturbing trend" of farmer suicides in the hilly state.

The delegation led by PCC chief Pritam Singh met the chief minister at his residence here and apprised him of the recent trend of farmers committing suicides in different parts of the state due to banks exerting pressure on them to repay their loans.

The Congress MLAs urged Rawat to take immediate action in this regard.

They also drew the chief minister's attention to the plight of farmers whose crops are often destroyed by excess rains.

After two debt-ridden farmers allegedly committed suicide in Pithoragarh and Udham Singh Nagar districts in quick succession last month, another cultivator killed himself by consuming poison in Tehri district on 20 July with his family claiming that he took the extreme step as he was under pressure from banks to repay his loans.

-PTI