India's Suicide Epidemic is Blamed on the British

[chlamor]

India's suicide epidemic is blamed on the British
By Cahal Milmo

16 May 2005

Trade reforms backed and funded by the British Government have caused an agricultural crisis in India which has sparked an epidemic of suicide among impoverished farmers, a leading charity claims today.

More than 4,000 farmers have killed themselves in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh since a programme of free-market measures was implemented by a "hardline liberalising regime" with the help of a £1.65m grant from the Department for International Development (DfID). A study for Christian Aid claims that the dramatic increase in the suicide rate, which saw 2,115 farmers take their lives last year compared with 588 in 2003, is directly linked to British support for policies joining aid to economic liberalisation in developing economies.

<snip>

In the decade from 1991, the area of farmland in India used to grow traditional grains such as rice declined by 18 per cent. In the same period, land dedicated to the production of cotton and sugar cane increased by 25 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. At the same time, subsidies for fertilisers were slashed and cheaper loans from banks were reduced, resulting in farmers going to private lenders charging interest rates of at least 36 per cent to fund new crops that rapidly became worthless on the global market because of over-production and cheap imports.

<snip>

The Christian Aid report said: "These are not deaths from just one area or from just one type of farming. This is suicide on a scale that is surely unique in modern times. The immediate cause of these deaths is debt. This debt was brought on by a number of factors, all of which, except for the weather, can be ascribed to liberalisation."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/story.jsp?story=638638

[Colorado Blue]

1. Some reforms.

This is so sad:(

[ngGale]

2. Very sad...

unique in modern times. When means to me, our times are not very good.

[w4rma]

3. Economic liberalization = Monopolies and doing away with regulations.

This isn't progressive economics. This is neo-liberal/neo-con economics that is being pushed.

[newfaceinhell]

4. Can't let human lives get in the way of "progress"

:(

[burythehatchet]

5. the more things change....

"Indigo, we want more indigo"