RANCHI, India, June 29 ( Reuters) - About 2,000 drought-affected farmers in eastern India have pleaded to the president for help, saying that if they can't lead a respectable life they should be allowed to die in a respectable way.
Most of the 10,000 farmers from Palamau district in the impoverished Jharkhand state have lost their crops due to lack of rains for four consecutive years.
"(If) we cannot lead a respectable life, then we should be allowed to die in (a) respectable way," read a letter to President Pratibha Patil.
"This is the fourth successive year we are facing drought. We are deprived of (the) benefits of government schemes," said the letter, also sent to the state governor.
The farmers said they have been forced to sell everything from their farms and cattle to even their wives' jewellery.
(Reporting by Nityanand Shukla; Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee)
People play in waves at a sea front during a monsoon showers in Mumbai June 26, 2009. India's monsoon rains for the week ended June 24 were 68 percent below normal, ...
