Maharashtra: 899 farmers committed suicide in Marathwada during January-October

As many as 899 farmers committed suicide in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra during January to October this year with 537 of them taking their lives in six months when floods caused massive damage to crops official data shows reported news agency PTIMinister of State for Agriculture Ashish Jaiswal said the government is seriously addressing the issue and has increased the spending on dedicated schemes and incentives to Rs 1 lakh crore reported PTIThe data provided by the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar divisional commissioners office shows Marathwada recorded 899 farmer suicides in ten months from January to October this year including 537 in six months May 1 to October 31 when rains and floods wreaked havocBeed and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar districts recorded the highest number of suicides by agriculturistsDistrictwise Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar recorded 112 suicides Jalna 32 Parbhani 45 Hingoli33 Nanded 90 Beed 108 Latur 47 and Dharashiv 70 in these six months reported PTIThe state government has announced a package of nearly Rs 32000 crore as compensation for the affected farmers in Marathwada comprising Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Jalna Nanded Parbhani Hingoli Latur Beed and Dharashiv districts reported PTIThe excess rainfall and floods caused significant collateral damage recorded up to September 20 with the death of 12 persons while around 1300 houses were damaged and 357 animals perished reported PTIFarmer leader and former MP Raju Shetti expressed deep anguish over the suicides saying unseasonal rain followed by floods and extended monsoon severely damaged fruit orchards and crops reported PTIThis sequence of events has undoubtedly demoralised the farmers in Marathwada he saidShetti alleged agriculturists received meagre compensation for the damage to cropsA farmer with a banana orchard had finalised a deal with a businessman for nearly 100 tons of crop at a rate of Rs 25000 per ton After the floods in the Sina river took away his entire crop he got a compensation of just Rs 25000 There are numerous such cases he claimed reported PTIMinister Jaiswal told PTI that the government is spending approximately Rs 1 lakh crore on farmers schemes and incentives exceeding the Rs 23000 crore annual budget of the agriculture departmentHe said the direct financial aid to farmers will increase in the futureLongterm solutions are needed as natural calamities of the scale seen in Marathwada can recur The proposed measures include shifting to controlled farming and revising crop patterns that will give assured returns to farmers he added reported PTIThe minister said a dedicated committee has been set up to ensure that the benefits of the loan waiver when announced will reach the needy personsMeanwhile a farmer support organisation focused on counselling has appealed to the government to implement a strategic longterm disaster management planVinayak Hegana founder of Shivar Helpline dedicated to resolving farmers issues through counselling urged the government to adopt a strategic longterm approach to disaster management reported PTIThe government must recognise this pattern of climate change and form a dedicated task force similar to the one implemented during the COVID19 pandemic This force should be empowered to address and resolve farmers issues on an immediate localised basis he told PTIHe said the existing parameters of disaster management need to be redefined in Marathwada and new frameworks must be establishedWith inputs from PTI