25,000 farmers seek President's permission to commit suicide on Independence Day

Failing to get compensation from the government for loosing their land to the construction of the Gokul Barrage, over 25,000 farmers in Mathura have sought President's permission to commit suicide on Independence Day.

The farmers took out a protest to register their grievances, according to a Times of India report, the farmers from 11 villages of the Mathura district had been agitating for 17 years when the gates of barrage were

The farmers of the district were expected to receive about Rs 800 crore from the government against the acquisition of 700 acres of their land without consent for building the Gokul Barrage, The Times of India reported.

Mathura farmers had also suffered severely after unseasonal rains destroyed their crops this year. This had led to over 40 farmers committing suicide in the beginning of the year.

After repeated pleas to the state and the Union government, farmers of the district decided to send a letter to the President on Saturday, seeking permission to commit suicide by hanging. 

The decision of the farmers comes just months after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a rally in Mathura in May, in which he had promised electricity, water and "soil health cards" to farmers.