70% of land sown crop damaged claims 23 farm suicides in July -now aid-starved farmers ask permission to commit suicide
Nagpur: The dry spell across Maharashtra since the start of the month has triggered fresh distress among farmers, already ravaged by two years of hailstorms and drought as crisis driven vidarbha region has claimed 23 fresh farm suicides in this month whereas situation is so pathetic that Seven aid starved farmers of village in wadad in wardha district who are facing starvation has approached district administration requesting him for granting permission to kill themselves ,the distress farmers who have been denied relief aid since January 2015 are kishor ingale ,bhanudas wadadkar ,pankaj gawande ,kundabai lonkar,Shankar khadase ,kamala warhade ,vasanta gingavkar .
Farm activist group vidarbha janandolan asmiti (VJAS) who are documenting farmers suicides data since 1995 has released list of 23 farmers who killed themselves since 2nd July to 12 July are
|
Sr.no.
|
Date of suicide
|
Name
|
Viallge and district
|
|
1
|
2/7/2015
|
Dinesh bhonde
|
Porgavan(wardha)
|
|
2
|
3/7/2015
|
Santosh chatule
|
Shendurjana(amaravati)
|
|
3
|
4/7/2015
|
Pandurang madavi
|
Watkhed(yavtamal)
|
|
4
|
4/7/1015
|
Amol vayale
|
Shirasgoan (yavatmal)
|
|
5
|
4/7/2015
|
Shaymrao kokarde
|
Bhivapur(amaravati)
|
|
6
|
5/7/2015
|
Satish sidram
|
Gohda(wardha)
|
|
7
|
5/7/2015
|
Maraotrao atatre
|
Pandhari(yavatmal)
|
|
8
|
5/7/2015
|
Harihar karade
|
Deulgoan(akola)
|
|
9
|
5/7/2015
|
Narayan thakary
|
Pimpal vihir (amamravati)
|
|
10
|
6/7/2015
|
Mahhamad akhil -Saudagar
|
Katpur(amaravati)
|
|
11
|
6/7/2015
|
Prakash chavan
|
Kondhari(yavatmal)
|
|
12
|
7/7/2015
|
Antaram tekam
|
Aaledhur(bhandara)
|
|
13
|
7/7/2015
|
Satish pokle
|
Rohikhed(buldhna)
|
|
14
|
9/7/2015
|
Manohar watghule
|
Pavnar(wardha)
|
|
15
|
9/7/2015
|
Yadav jivtode
|
Shembal(chandrapur)
|
|
16
|
9/7/2015
|
Ramrav naitam
|
Watched(yavatmal)
|
|
17
|
10/7/2015
|
Pundlik ukhade
|
Kinhi (yavatmal)
|
|
18
|
10/7/2015
|
Ramchandra kumbhalkar
|
Wadner(wardha)
|
|
19
|
10/7/2015
|
Raghunath ingale
|
Khalegoan(buldhana)
|
|
20
|
11/7/2015
|
Mangilal aade
|
Manora (washim)
|
|
21
|
11/7/2015
|
Devidas tayade
|
Ahmadabad(amaravati)
|
|
22
|
11/7/2015
|
Baliram bhatkar
|
Morzadi(akola)
|
|
23
|
12/7/2015
|
Shalik gedam
|
Wadhoda(yavatmal)
|
Most of recent victims are tribal or are from backward communities who are denied fresh crop loan and relief aid from govt.,VJAS activist kishore tiwari alleged.
Following the initial spell of rainfall in June, most farmers began planting crops, and 70% of the state’s farm lands have been sown so far. But with the state having received just 16.6mm of rain so far this month, anday sowed seeds has been completed damaged in the dry land region of west vidarbha resulting repetition of same drought like situation resulting acute distress and their livelihoods jeopardized, tiwari added .
As the rains failed this year too more than 5 dry land farmer farmers has lost the money they spent on sowing, which can be anywhere from Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 an acre, dependent on the crop. In struggling rural economies in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions, many farmers have had to borrowed money from private money lender as banks failed to give fresh crop now tThe failure of their crops has pushed them further into debt and resulting fresh spate of suicides, Tiwari said .
As the average farmer has been in debt for the past two years and has had to borrow more money this year and now kharif crops are ruined, there is little chance he will have the courage to borrow again and farmers who are in grip of this delayed rain and drought prone crisis and mostly cotton farmers who in deep distress and killing themselves hence urgent intervention from state and center both is need ,tiwari urged .
Rajeev Ranjan Kushwaha (rajeev.nagpurtoday@gmail.com)
