A Call Away - "Kisan Mitra", Rural Distress Helpline

Agrarian distress is an epidemic in India, with the rate of suicides amongst farmers being around 48% higher than any other profession. In the last 4 years, more than 3500 farmers committed suicide in the Telangana state alone. Knowledge of this plight of farmers is what led to the founding of Kisan Mitra helpline on 14th of April, 2017 in Vikarabad with the support of the then district collector Ms. Divya. It was later extended to Adilabad and Mancherial districts.

Since the inception of Kisan Mitra, around 6000 farmers consulted us for many farming and governance related issues and we were able to solve most of them by making the government machinery work. However, due to resource and financial crunch, we are still unable to reach to many thousands of farmers in distress who couldn’t reach out to us. Stigma surrounding seeking medical help is still keeping them from calling us despite facing many issues in farming, governance level and even health wise (physical and psychological), leading to many suicides which continue to happen. Hence, it has become imperative for us to spread our wings and reach out to farmers not only through the helpline but also in a more village centric field outreach perspective.

1. When a distressed farmer calls us on our helpline or when we encounter one on the field,

our team of counsellors counsel them and try to relax them. Any moderate/severe cases are referred to our field team to gather deeper information and counsel them personally. Severe cases are referred to our team of psychologists/psychiatrists.

We ensure quicker resolution of their issues by connecting them with the government officials and ensure closure. The respective district collectors review all cases periodically.

We give emergency financial support for sustenance of any farmer families in severe distress (suicide, ill-health etc.,), till they get the required approvals and support from the government.

2. Apart from Distress Counselling, we at Kisan Mitra also:

Aim to make community centers functional in villages to build a peer support network of farmers for spending quality time and sharing experiences.

We also research and provide information regarding sustainable agriculture practices, financial management and physical and psychological fitness (Ex: Medicine, Nutrition, Stress Management etc.,).

We research agrarian issues around the country and identify causes of farmer distress and deaths (ex: pesticide poisoning took many lives in Yavatmal, Maharashtra) and apply that knowledge to create awareness/prevent suicides among our local farmers.

https://thelogicalindian.com/my-social-responsibility/kisan-mitra/

1. Transparent communication between government officials and farmers

2. Reduction of distress and suicides in the villages and building appropriate support systems

3. Improved quality of crops, better market prices for the farmers’ produce and reduced losses

4. Problem solving oriented discussions which will facilitate accelerated issue resolution at the governance level

5. Making Governance more participatory which can in future be used for Bottoms up Policy Making & also to build factual evidence for issues which can’t be solved at District level.

6. Access to village level information, from the amount of funds available in particular schemes to other data making the farmers more independent to better utilise their entitlements.

7. Actual situation in the village and root cause of many issues could be understood by villagers through discussions in a community centre setup.