This gimmick by the government would have far-reaching disastrous consequence as more and more desperate farmers will be encouraged to commit suicide instead of finding an alternative to the crisis in the farming sector. In addition, the possibility of farmers getting murdered by their own family members, including wives and children, to appropriate the funds in the form of compensation that the government promises to award is going to cause havoc to the social fabric of the farming community. There is also a possibility that this scheme would be extended to cover all suicides involving breadwinners to garner votes and this would cause severe and untold damage to the moral and social fabric of this country.

The Punjab government has announced relief to distressed farmers in heavy debt. The Punjab government’s decision to grant Rs 2 lakh to families of farmers who commit suicide has sparked a controversy. The state cabinet took the decision at an emergency meeting, minutes before the model code of conduct came into effect on Monday.

While the Congress termed it yet another "popular sop" to farmers in the run-up to Lok Sabha polls, social scientists and farmers questioned its merits. Dr Harish Puri, former professor at the Guru Nanak Dev University, said it was a "retrograde step" as it would not help farmers tide over the problem of indebtedness. Coming in the wake of the elections, he said, the decision surely had political overtones and "did not appear to be a well-meaning exercise to redress the plight of farmers".

Dr Ravi Vasishtha of the Panjab University feared the decision could trigger more suicides. He said a large number of farmers with small land holdings had a debt of Rs 2 lakh in Punjab. The government’s decision could drive distressed farmers to suicide to their families tide over the crisis. The per capita debt for over 11 lakh farmers in the state is Rs 41,000, totalling Rs 25,000 crore. JS Jethuke, a farmer’s leader, said giving money to farmers after they had killed themselves was no solution. He demanded a long-term policy to free farmers from the stranglehold of middlemen.

Earlier, the state rejected a Central loan-waiver scheme as "a fraud played on poor and innocent farmers". The Centre’s scheme, officials said, covered farmers who defaulted on loans taken till March 31, 2007, and due for repayment till December 31, 2007.

Many farmers’ leaders feel that in the absence of a state government exercise to identify suicide cases, the schemes might prove an eye- wash. There is widespread discrepancy in farmer suicide figures. The Punjab government pegs the number of farmer suicides since 1988 to 2,116, while Chandigarh-based NGO Movement Against State Repression (MASR) says it is 40,000. MASR convener Inderjit Singh Jaijee said a survey conducted some time back in Andana and Lehra blocks of Sangrur found 1,130 suicides since 1988. MASR also conducted surveys in Mansa, Patiala and Amritsar. Except Patiala, suicides were high everywhere.

If 1,130 had committed suicide in just two blocks, the number would not be less than 40,000 in all the 138 blocks. The government, however, said the figures are grossly exaggerated. Police verification did not substantiate MASR’s claims. Jaijee, on the other hand, offered to produce death certificates to testify the figure.