Farmer pours petrol on himself, tries to immolate self over loan

Guntur: A  farmer attempted suicide by pouring  petrol on himself at the collector’s grievance cell in  ZP Hall  here on Monday. He was aggrieved over non-sanctioning of bank loan which was  reportedly recommended  by Chief  Minister N  Chandrababu Naidu to start a dairy four  months ago. 

• Says though CM directed officials to ensure bank loan to him in Oct last year, officials have not responded for the last four months
• Immediately after the suicide bid, things move fast, bank officials to sanction loan for dairy farm today 

The farmer, Mada Sivaprasanna Babu, posted in his Facebook page earlier that the Chief Minister  and district collector Kona Sasidhar were responsible for his suicide. He came to the collector’s grievance hall and attempted suicide.

The incident created a sensation as it comes three days after a farmer, Kondaveeti  Brahmmaiah, committing suicide in the collectorate. Another Chintakayala Raju of Gurazala sent selfie threatening the district administration to commit suicide two days ago. 

According to information, Sivaprasanna Babu, of Bukkapuram village in Nadendla mandal, who has been cultivating cotton and  chilli in his seve acres for the last 10 years, incurred losses to spurious seeds and pesticides as well as fall in prices in the last few years. He owes RS 8 lakh to various money lenders. 

Babu met the Chief Minister in October last year and explained his plight and requested loan to set up a dairy farm. The Chief Minister directed the district administration to sanction the loan. However, despite Babu visiting the collectorate every week for loan, nothing has happened.

Vexed with the irresponsive behaviour of the officials, Babu issued a threat on his Facebook that he would end his life on January 22 if he was not sanctioned loan immediately. 

Accordingly, he came to the collector’s grievances cell on Monday morning. As soon as programme began, he poured petrol on himself and tried to set himself ablaze. However, the officials taking part in the programme foiled his bid.

After Sivaprasanna Babu explained his problem,  district collector Kona Sasidar  directed the bank officials  to  immediately sanction Rs. 25,000 through Kapu Corporation and sanction loan to the bank. Following orders of the district administration, the bank officials went to Bukkapuram later in the day and completed formalities and assured that they would sanction the loan on Tuesday.

Farmer Sivaprasanna Babu told The Hans India, “I have studied BSc and have been cultivating seven acres in my village. I have incurred heavy losses in agriculture. Though the Chief Minister directed the officials to sanction loan, they have not responding to my repeated pleas.  

I kept a bottle filled with petrol in the bag and went to the ZP Meeting Hall and I attempted to immolate myself as soon as the meeting  started. This should serve as an eye opener to the officials who are least bothered about the plight of people like me.”