Imran Khan
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300 Farmers Committed Suicide In Maharashtra In November While Parties Were Fighting For Power
Bobins Abraham
Updated: Jan 03, 2020, 13:58 IST
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The political drama which played in Maharashtra recently was unprecedented. Despite the Election Commission declaring the results on October 24, the state did not have a government for over a month, until Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the Chief Minister of the state on November 28.
It all began with the Shiv Sena walking out of the NDA after a dispute over the post of the Chief Minister with the BJP. The BJP had won 105 seats and the SS had 56, giving them a comfortable margin to form the government in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
BCCL
But after the alliance fell apart there was no single party or alliance that had the numbers to form the government.
Finally, after a brief period of President's rule and a 3-day long Devendra Fadnavis government, the state got a 'stable' government on November 28 when Thackeray, backed by the NCP and Congress took the oath as CM.
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But all the while when the politicians were squabbling for power, it was the people of Maharashtra who were suffering, especially the farmers of the state. The state did not have a government at a time when the farmers were struggling after the unprecedented floods that destroyed much of the kharif crop.
AFP
The crop-lose pushed many farmers who were already struggling due to the years of drought and subsequent farm debts to suicide. According to The Times of India, 300 farmers have committed across the state in November alone.
Drought-prone belt of Marathwada recorded the highest number of 120 cases in November 2019 while Vidarbha, which usually sees the largest number of farmer suicides, recorded 112 cases. This is the first time since 2015 farmer suicides have crossed 300 cases in a month.
Nearly a month after he assumed office, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a complete farm loan waiver under which short-term crop loan up to Rs 2 lakh taken by farmers between April 1, 2015-March 31, 2019, will be written off.
However, it is not likely to provide much relief to the majority of the farmers as those whose crop loan and restructured loan is more than Rs two lakh will not be eligible for any benefit under the scheme.
"Majority of farmers have loan arrears of more than Rs 2 lakh. So most of the farmers are out of the scheme. However, the government had said that the loan waiver was unconditional," farmer leader Ajit Navale had alleged.
Bobins Abraham
Updated: Jan 03, 2020, 13:58 IST
428 SHARES
TWITTER REDDIT SAVE
The political drama which played in Maharashtra recently was unprecedented. Despite the Election Commission declaring the results on October 24, the state did not have a government for over a month, until Uddhav Thackeray took oath as the Chief Minister of the state on November 28.
It all began with the Shiv Sena walking out of the NDA after a dispute over the post of the Chief Minister with the BJP. The BJP had won 105 seats and the SS had 56, giving them a comfortable margin to form the government in the 288-member Maharashtra assembly.
But after the alliance fell apart there was no single party or alliance that had the numbers to form the government.
Finally, after a brief period of President's rule and a 3-day long Devendra Fadnavis government, the state got a 'stable' government on November 28 when Thackeray, backed by the NCP and Congress took the oath as CM.
Don't Miss
But all the while when the politicians were squabbling for power, it was the people of Maharashtra who were suffering, especially the farmers of the state. The state did not have a government at a time when the farmers were struggling after the unprecedented floods that destroyed much of the kharif crop.
The crop-lose pushed many farmers who were already struggling due to the years of drought and subsequent farm debts to suicide. According to The Times of India, 300 farmers have committed across the state in November alone.
Drought-prone belt of Marathwada recorded the highest number of 120 cases in November 2019 while Vidarbha, which usually sees the largest number of farmer suicides, recorded 112 cases. This is the first time since 2015 farmer suicides have crossed 300 cases in a month.
Nearly a month after he assumed office, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced a complete farm loan waiver under which short-term crop loan up to Rs 2 lakh taken by farmers between April 1, 2015-March 31, 2019, will be written off.
However, it is not likely to provide much relief to the majority of the farmers as those whose crop loan and restructured loan is more than Rs two lakh will not be eligible for any benefit under the scheme.
"Majority of farmers have loan arrears of more than Rs 2 lakh. So most of the farmers are out of the scheme. However, the government had said that the loan waiver was unconditional," farmer leader Ajit Navale had alleged.