Vidarbha region recorded the highest number of farmer suicides, at 5,214, in the last four years. This was followed by Marathwada with 4,699 farmer suicides
The number of farmer suicides in Maharashtra doubled in the last four years, according to a reply provided to a Right to Information (RTI) query.
The Maharashtra government, in a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), had said that 6,268 farmers committed suicide between 2011 and 2014. The number rose to 11,995 from January 2015 till 2018-end -- an increase of over 91 percent -- a report by NDTV stated.
The Vidarbha region recorded the highest number of farmer suicides, at 5,214, in the last four years. This was followed by Marathwada, with 4,699 farmer suicides, the report added.
Three out of the last four years have seen deficient rainfall. The Maharashtra government had unveiled a mega Rs 34,022 crore farm loan waiver scheme in June 2017 that will see a debt up to Rs 1.5 lakh per farmer being written off.
In December last year, unit chief of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Raosaheb Danve had claimed that nearly 90 percent farmers in the state have received the benefit of the government's loan waiver.
The state government has declared drought in 268 ‘revenue circles’ and 5,449 individual villages, apart from 151 tehsils, where agricultural production is expected to fall by more than 50 percent.
In February, Maharashtra’s Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said an aid of Rs 1,507 crore has been credited into bank accounts of 42 lakh drought-affected farmers. A total of Rs 2,909 crore have been allocated for this purpose, he said.
Presenting a vote-on-account in the Legislative Assembly, Mungantiwar said 82.27 lakh farmers in 151 tehsils with land holding of 85.76 lakh hectares have been affected by last year's drought.
