Nagpur minister had asked farmer who killed himself to meet a middleman, says Ajit Pawar

In a sensational allegation, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator Ajit Pawar on Tuesday claimed that 84-year-old farmer Dharma Patil — who had committed suicide at the state secretariat in January — had earlier been advised by a Maharashtra minister to approach a middle-man over his demand for higher remuneration for his land. Patil, a resident of Dhule, had consumed poison in Mantralaya on January 22, and had died a week later. His family has claimed that Patil was aggrieved over the compensation package given to him after his five-acre farm land was acquired for the thermal power project.

While targeting the government over the spate of farmer suicides during a discussion in the legislative assembly, Pawar alleged that Patil had sought intervention of the Nagpur minister over his grievance. He added that instead of helping the distressed farmer, the minister in question (he chose not to name him) asked him to approach a ‘dalal’ for his work.

Following the uproar over Patil’s suicide, the government had increased his family’s land compensation. Blaming the Devendra Fadnavis government’s failure for the rise in farmer suicides, Pawar also said that the state’s secretariat had turned into an ‘Atmahatyalaya (Suicide point)’ due to the insensitivity of the government. Pawar also demanded that the government announced a taluka-wise list of farm loan waiver beneficiaries. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is expected to reply to the discussion on Wednesday.

Meanwhile replying to a discussion in the state’s legislative council, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil disclosed that farm loan waiver benefit has been disbursed to 37 lakh farmer so far.

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