Maharashtra recorded 2,489 farmer suicides from January 1 to November 30, 2021, and 2,547 farmer suicides in 2020, with over 50% deaths coming from the State’s Vidarbha region during both years.
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According to the information obtained by activist Jitendra Ghadge, after an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the State recorded 2,547 farmer suicides in the year 2020. Out of this, 1,206 deaths were eligible for aid as per the norms of the State government to extend aid while 799 were declared ineligible.
When compared, the Aurangabad division, which covers the entire Marathwada area of the State, has seen an increase in the number of farmer suicides to 804 in 2021 from 773 in 2020. Nagpur division, which covers the eastern Vidarbha too, witnessed an increase in the number of suicides to 309 in 2021 from 269 in 2020. Amaravati division, which covers the western Vidarbha region, has recorded the highest number of farmer suicides in both years. In 2020, a total of 1,128 deaths were registered here and in 2021 the number till November was 1,056. Konkan division has recorded zero deaths during both years. In Pune and Nasik divisions, which cover western and north Maharashtra regions respectively, the recorded deaths in the year 2020 are 26 and 351 while in 2021 are 13 and 307.
As per the information obtained under RTI, kins of an average of 50% dead farmers were found eligible for ₹1 lakh compensation from the State government.
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According to Mr. Ghadge of the Young Whistleblowers Foundation, “Ignoring the mental health aspect of the farmers and just giving loan waivers to all will never address the problem. It’s important to filter out distressed farmers so that help is channelized to one who needs the most.”