Somayajulapalle (AP): Making his first visit outside the capital to commiserate with the families of farmers who committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today (July 1, 2004 announced a compensation of Rs 50,000 each and a job to at least one member of these families, besides promising that he would personally go into all farm-related issues.

He also announced five schemes to improve their living conditions like provision of drinking water, drainage and education at a total cost of Rs 1.65 crores.

Singh was addressing widows and children of the dead farmers after interacting with them in this village, 30 km from Kurnool in the Southwestern part of the State that had seen a spate of suicides by farmers ruined by heavy debts due to crop failures on account of successive droughts.

On a day's visit to the State, the first after he took over as Prime Minister, he interacted with the widows and children and heard first-hand their tale of woes and the extent to which they had accumulated debts forcing the menfolk to desperation and suicide.

One woman told him that their family had accumulated debt to the tune of seven to eight lakhs and they had no means to repay it.

Singh gave away cheques to the families as compensation from the State Government which had earlier announced Rs 1.5 lakh as solatium.

He said a minor irrigation tank will be constructed in the village at a cost of Rs 1 crore which would help cultivate around 500 acres of land.