RANCHI: The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha 's (JMM) call for a two-hour shutdown at Pithoria village in Kanke block, to protest against the recent two cases of farmer suicide , backfired with the family of one of the deceased farmers accusing the party of politicising the issue on Saturday.Sonu Kumar, elder son of Baldeo Mahto who committed suicide by jumping into a well on June 15, slammed the bandh and said political parties were only trying to make the most out of the crisis. "Political leaders know how to make promises but when it comes to fulfilling them, they disappear," Sonu, who passed the Class 10 board examinations this year, said.Taking a jibe at former chief minister Hemant Soren, the 16-year-old added, "The JMM leader had visited us yesterday and made several promises. He told us he would send a party member later in the evening for some paper work. But no one turned up."However, refuting the above allegations, JMM party vice-president Vinod Kumar told TOI that the family had already been supplied with foodgrains and had assured free education to the two children. "We already sent them packets of rice and dal and will provide free education to their children," Kumar said.The vice-president also said that the party on Saturday decided to request the state government to waive of the loans of all farmers under the Kisan Credit Card (KCC) scheme.Sonu, on the other hand, also hit out at Ranchi district deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar who earlier said the farmer had brought a mobile phone before he committed suicide. "So what if my father had brought a mobile phone? Every farmer owns one these days. The purchase of a Rs 1,400-mobile phone is not a sign of wealth. We face severe financial issues like most farmers," he said.However, BJP MLA Jitu Charan Ram stuck to police claims that the farmer did not take his life due to loan repayment. "Baldeo had withdrawn Rs 20,000 after he got a loan on his KCC. How can the family claim they did not have money to buy food?" He added, "The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe is on and we are awaiting the post-mortem report. We will provide full help to the family."Baldeo's wife Anita Devi claimed that the state government had already granted them some partial relief. "The Raghubar Das government has given us nearly Rs 25,000 as of now and has promised to provide further assistance."Saturday's bandh seemed to have little impact as several participants declared an early end to the protest on Friday. While few shops kept their shutters down for nearly an hour to avoid any trouble, they later resumed business after taking note of the little impact of the strike in the area.Meanwhile, few farmers in the village brushed aside reports of loan repayment as a major reason behind suicides. Instead, they claimed to be troubled by the lack of water supply to the agricultural fields and poor irrigation facilities."There is an acute shortage of water in this village. The water level in rivers such as Jumar has gone down. It is the fear of a low or poor quality output that often that often leaves them worried," Rajesh Sahu, a farmer who owns one acre of land in the village, said.His father Mohan Sahu said, "All the dobhas and the ponds have dried up. There are no proper tube wells too. We do not have water for even domestic use. Also, several farmers are not familiar with modern agricultural practices."On the water grievances of the farmers, Ram said the project to dig tube wells close to every field has already been sanctioned by the government and work is under process to complete the same. "Pithoria village is the driest zone and it is very difficult to dig wells there. The tender has been passed and work is under progress," he said.

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