In India, till now many farmers committed suicide and all the members of the family are suffering from many problems as the family was a farmer who had committed suicide leaving behind a family which had no other source of income. No one is looking over them. But, Suresh Ediga who works at the US-based financial company has managed to raise over Rs. 19,00,000 for Indian farmers. He calls local MLAs in India to track updates, organizes awareness programmes and much more.

This man who lives in other country and did not have any connection with the Indian agriculture why he is making efforts to give the families a new hope and brought them out of their dark lives?

Suresh says that “For about 14 years now, I have been working with various social initiatives. One day, I read about the farmer suicides in Vidarbha. I read more about it and found it really sad to see their condition. On my daughter’s first birthday, I donated some money to the family of a farmer who committed suicide. Since then, I have been raising funds annually for various farmers and their families in Maharashtra.”

Suresh has managed to raise around Rs. 3,00,000 annually for the families of suicide victims. This year, he has gone a step ahead and started a crowd-funding initiative to raise Rs. 10,00,000 for helping out more affected families. Till date, he has managed to raise over Rs. 19,00,000 for needy farmers and their families.

Indian Farmer League:

He got an idea to start Indian Farmer League during the Cricket World Cup 2015 and he thought of channelizing the enthusiasm among people towards a better cause. By this IFL, every initiative would require every donor to get 10 more people on board and donate $20 each for the cause. Those 10 members will further get 10 more people each in the chain.

Suresh said that “This way, every team will have 11 members who will donate $20 each. Or they can donate any amount they want to”. This IFL has raised over Rs. 5.5 lakhs and are looking forward to reaching a target of Rs.10 lakhs this year.

Moreover, he has partnered with Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samithi, who is helping him with the distribution of the funds by enabling them to reach the needy farmers directly. He says that “Farming is the only sector in India which, despite its size, remains unorganized. There is no trade union, no one to fall back on in times of need. We hope to create a safety net for these farmers and reduce the suicide rates.” He is also helping VJAS in organising Samwad Yatra, which conducts community outreach programmes and spreads awareness about the various issues plaguing marginalized farmers.

He not only provided the financial assistance to the families of farmers but also He has been actively involved in the framing of policies and rights of the farmers. He constantly calls local MLAs and ministers to inquire about various schemes and to check whether farmers are getting benefited from those.

Also in 2013, Suresh, along with four friends, started an organization called i4Farmers.org i.e. Individual for Farmers, in an effort to bring individuals together to help the farmers.

“Though there are many government policies and subsidies to help farmers, they are not aligned well with the ground realities. Better access to loan facilities is required and the vicious cycle that farmers get trapped in due to money lenders needs to end,” says Suresh. “I have been doing it for so many years now, it has become part of my life. Moreover, it is everyone’s duty to do their bit in whatever way they can,” he added.

One should take Suresh as the initiative and help the families of the farmers.