This is a Play on the issue of Farmer suicides in AP by the volunteers of Caring Citizen’s Collective Medak district. Followed by a Discussion and an Appeal for Supporting Children’s Education from these families. As you are aware, due to severe agrarian crisis in India the farmers in various states including the state of Andhra Pradesh have been committing suicides for more than a decade.

During recent years, rural India has been stalked by the deadly epidemic of terminal despair that shows no sign of ending, due to various factors including drought, famine, rapid and drastic shift in agricultural and economic policies, taking the lives of more than 2,50,000 farmers owning less than two hectares. They borrow from money lenders at exorbitant rates of interest. They cannot get credit on time as they cannot show enough security for the loan. When the monsoon fails them, they are harassed for re-payments, driving them to suicides, conclusively proving that suicides are forced deaths.

Various factors contribute to the intense human distress in the surviving families. In many cases the next meal is uncertain. When mother succumbs to starvation, the trauma and vulnerability of children is particularly striking. Children become orphans and are forced out of education. Government admitted its inability to stop the suicides. Moreover in many cases women of these families, especially wife/mother, are blamed for the deaths by the villagers and also by officials.

In view of the above circumstances, social activists, academicians, intellectuals and journalists came together in 2006, and formed ‘Caring Citizens’ Collective’ (CCC) in 2007 in Andhra Pradesh. The CCC’s volunteers are working in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh where the farmer suicides are high specifically in Medak, Mahabubnagar and Warangal Districts. A beginning has been made to support the education of the children belonging to farmers families affected by suicides. In addition to supporting the children’s education, CCC also working hard to assist the suicide and starvation deaths affected families to obtain financial and other required assistance from the government. The CCC also works together with victims/survivors and other organizations to pressurize the govt. administration in a democratic manner to implement applicable policies. To create awareness and to seek support from the civil society, CCC organizes civil forum and meeting in schools and colleges. With the help of volunteers in the village, teachers, people’s representatives, media and based on reports filed in police stations, CCC identifies the children in the affected families, and ensures that the children are provided with education and reasonable care by joining them in appropriate schools/educational institutes.to be filled