1,800+ deaths in 8 months: Sharp rise in farm suicides in Maharashtra
PRAFULLA MARPAKWAR / TNN / Updated: Oct 13, 2022, 02:03 IST
File photo for representation
MUMBAI: Distress among farmers in Maharashtra pushed 1,875 of them to end their lives between January and August this year, according to data compiled by the state relief and rehabilitation department. During the same period in 2021, 1,605 debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide.
This rise in suicide numbers is despite several loan waivers and other schemes for farmers announced by the erstwhile Maha Vikas Aghadi government and the recent assurance by chief minister Eknath Shinde to make Maharashtra free of farmer suicides by extending financial support to the debt-ridden.
Poor price for produce, stress and family responsibilities, government apathy, poor irrigation, a high debt burden, corruption in subsidies and crop failure owing to heavy rain are the main reasons for farmers to end their lives, according to research conducted by leading social organisations and government agencies.
Region-wise, Amravati saw the highest number of farmer suicides in both 2022 (725) and 2021 (662). The Aurangabad region came second with 661 and 532, and Nashik third with 252 and 201. Nagpur region saw 225 cases in 2022 and 199 in 2021, and Pune 12 and 11 cases. The Konkan region saw no farmer suicides in these two years.
Of the 1,875 suicides in 2022, 981 farmers were eligible for financial assistance as per government rules, 439 were not eligible and 455 were under scrutiny. Currently, the department is paying Rs 1 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased family.
Official records showed that 188 farmers ended their lives in Yavatmal district this year. However, if farmers' leader Kishore Tiwari is to be believed the number is 226. In 2021, 2,743 farmers committed suicide, he added.
Tiwari alleged that while Shinde had assured assistance, at the grassroots level the government machinery was yet to reach farmers. "We need a targeted approach in these districts," he said. "We found that no critical measures were taken in suicide-prone districts," he added.