Rubber farmer, CK Krishnakutty Nair, hanged himself from the branch of a rubber tree in despair after he was unable to pay the loans associated with his rubber plantation. Nair was 58 years old and lived in Peravoor. He hanged himself in Central Kerala’s Pala, which has his original home town. He also wrote a suicide note explaining how the sudden fall in the prices of rubber left him completely helpless.
Kerala is a major rubber production state and accounts for 8 lakh tonnes, almost 80% of the entire country’s production. Nair’s suicide gives us an idea of the difficulties being faced by 12 lakh rubber growers after the sudden fall in the prices. In 2011, the price of rubber had reached a record high at Rs. 250 per kg. Three years later, the price has reached a new low at just Rs. 100 – 110 per kg after being at Rs. 150 per kg one year ago.
Nair had sold his home to buy a rubber plantation, and due to the sudden fall in price, he couldn’t build a new home for his family. He had taken a loan from individuals as well as a bank. On not being able to clear the debts, he finally decided to commit suicide and put an end to his misery.
In his suicide note, he has also mentioned the sufferings of other farmers. He said, if the price of rubber did not increase to at least Rs. 150 per kg, thousands of farmers will be forced to take the same step as Nair. He has asked the Finance Minister, KM Mani to fulfill his promise of increasing the rubber price to Rs. 150.
Nair originally hailed from Pala, migrated to Peravoor and opened a small bakery. After the price rise of rubber, he sold his house and land measuring 21 cents for 67 lakh rupees. He further bought three acres of land after taking the rest of the money as loan to start his own rubber plantation. He owed 5 lakhs to the bank and 3 lakhs to certain individuals at the time of his death. He was even ready to sell his plantation at just Rs. 20 lakh per acre, which he had bought for Rs. 34 lakh per acre so that he could pay the remaining amount.
Many people like Nair had taken a step towards rubber plantation when the prospects looked promising. But, with the low price of rubber, their hopes and dreams seem to be shattered. CPM, the opposition party is now targeting the Finance Minister and blaming him for Nair’s suicide. They have said that all the liabilities of Nair should be written off since he is a martyr of the rubber crisis.
