Alarmed by the rising number of suicides among distressed farmers, the Catholic Church has decided to launch a nationwide Save Farmers – Save India campaign from the first week of April, a Roman Catholic archbishop said.
MUMBAI: Alarmed by the rising number of suicides among distressed farmers, the Catholic Church has decided to launch a nationwide Save Farmers – Save India campaign from the first week of April, a Roman Catholic archbishop said.
"Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's package has not brought a solution to the plight of distressed farmers across the country. Their rising suicides have become a national shame. Hence we have decided to launch a campaign to save farmers," Archbishop Oswald Gracias of Mumbai and president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, said.
"We will work as a catalyst and mobilize resources and put pressure on the Central and State governments to reach out effectively to the families of farmers to end suicide tragedies," he said, adding that the poor and hapless farmers' suicides should not become "cold national statistics".
He said the three-day national conference Human rights based approach to development, organized by Caritas India, a development agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India, which ended on February 8 here at Goregaon, had resolved to focus on mitigating farmers woes among other issues of the deprived tribals and indigenous people.
"We are confident about raising Rs 52 crore, including Rs 2 crore from Catholic Churches and institutions as Lenten collections, both to provide immediate relief and raise awareness across India," Fr Varghese Mattamana, executive director, Caritas India, told reporters here at the end of the national conference.
He said 15 professional medical and psychiatric counseling centers would be set up in Vidharba (Maharashtra), Telegana (Andra Pradesh) and Wynad (Kerala) to conduct camps and assist farmers.
"He said the decision to launch Save Farmers – Save India was taken at the national convention, especially with Church development workers in Amravati-Chanda-Nagpur region in Maharashtra, Kammam-Nalgonda-Warangal-Adilbad region in Andra Pradesh and Bathery-Mananthvary-Calicut region in Kerala," Fr Mattamana said.
He said Caritas India would hold a national consultation on pressing issues of farmers with likeminded partner agencies and evolve a workable plan of action, which will be submitted to Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and the Planning Commission's Department of Agriculture extension program, and natural resource management for execution.
"These are key players to mitigate woes of distressed farmers. While we will provide a readymade software and be present on the ground, the government must move with a package," Fr Mattamana asserted.
He said 159 Catholic dioceses regional social work societies, along with national, international partners like Caritas International based in Rome with offices in 200 countries, would be roped in the campaign.
He said while the Save Farmers – Save India awareness campaign will last for a year throughout India, with posters in 14 regional languages, execution of the program will continue for two years.
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