Should Govt compensate for personal mistakes?

Today in karnataka, there are lot of people who expect Govt to pay compensation for every tragedy that befalls the public not of the Govt’s making.

Some of the instances where Govt dispersed compensation are:

1. Govt paid Rs 1 lakh for all the people who died consuming “Kalla Batti” or hooch.

2. Govt paid compensation for farmers who committed suicide because of loans.

3. Demand for compensation in the name of support price when there is a bumper crop. Again demand for compensation when there is no crop! etc, etc…

It looks like there is no uniformity in the compensation that is doled out nor there is any specific guideline under which it is decided.

This is a topic that needs to be debated at length since the govt pays these compensation from the tax money it collects from the public.

Lets consider the issue of compensating those who lost their life drinking hooch.  Doesn’t this constitute abetting crime? When people clearly know that drinking hooch is illegal and dangerous, how wise is it for the govt to compensate them from our tax money? 

Farmers commit suicide every year for various reasons.  Recently, it has come to light that even when people die of natural causes, there were attempts to label it as suicide related to fertilizer and claim compensation.  I think such compensations breeds greed and it is unfortunate that people take advantage of a sensitive situation.

Instead, the Govt should formulate guidelines for compensation clearly stating the conditions that qualify for Govt compensations and most importantly, it should stick to those guidelines.  Wasting tax payers money to gain political mileage should not be the end game nor should it become a means for some people to exploit the situation.

These days we see farmers demanding govt help for each and every thing. They depend on govt for fertilizers, compensation when the crop fails and again compensation when there is bumper crop. Dosen’t it reflect the problem in the system?  Farmers demand loans from the banks which they never repay. There is no accountability or the commitment for loan repay.  Recently, the govt  waived off loans of farmers upto Rs 25k. Will this really help? Apart from spending 1,400 crores by the state govt and 72,000 crores by the central govt, I don’t think this solved any problem on the ground. All these farmers will again demand  fresh loans from the already bankrupt banks.

Recently, a farmer committed suicide when ICICI bank sent him notices for defaulting on his loan of 6 lakhs. There was such a huge protest by pro farmers group and finally ICICI had to settle with his family. Reportedly, the bank gave his family 10 lakhs. Isn’t this black mail? Why was the farmer not educated of the pitfalls of a huge loan by the very same pro farmer leaders? Also, it will be a big issue if any bank refuses to give loan.  In my view, this is nothing but looting the banking system.

I feel the govt should formulate proper procedures to educate farmers about all the issues related to farming in today’s global context. Yes, there are lot of risks involved in farming which the poor farmer is ill equipped to face. Govt instead of doling out free money should try to educate the same in better farming techniques, insure the crop so that the farmer is insulated from the vagaries of the climate and possibly purchase the crop well ahead to prevent price drops. Also, the govt should encourage private companies to get involved with the state’s farming community for the betterment of the society as a whole.

Hopefully the new GOVT lead by Mr B.S Yaddyurappa will actively work in solving this vexed recurring problem.