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Mumbai: The NCRB released data showing the number of farmers’ suicides in the state constantly increasing than 3,500 in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. Maharashtra recorded 3,927 farmers’ suicide in 2019, the highest in the country, which registered a total of 10,281 suicides in the farm sector last year, as per the NCRB. The State government despite implementing farmer welfare schemes, including a loan waiver in 2017 could not prevent the farmer suicides in the country.
The senior official in the state Agriculture department said “Maharashtra is at the forefront implementing all the agriculture reforms. The state had in 2006 enforced agricultural reforms, including contract farming, under the then Congress-NCP government. However, 1.56 crore farmers in the state, not more than 50,000 have taken up contract farming”. “The subsequent government, led by the BJP, too, had stressed group farming and extended financial incentives up to Rs 1 crore”, added officials.
The former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis announced the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Shetkari Sanman Yojna, a farm loan waiver of Rs 35,000 crore for 89 lakh farmers in 2017.
The NCRB data shows the number of farmers’ suicides in the state has remained higher than 3,500 in 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2019. NCRB has not recorded the numbers for 2017 and 2018, and has provided no reason for not doing so.
In 2016, 3,661 farm sector suicides were recorded by the bureau in Maharashtra out of a total number of 11,379 such suicides. The number for 2019, the next year for which data has been recorded, is an increase of 266. Over 4,000 farmers took the extreme step in 2014. In 2015, a total of 4,291 farmers’ suicides were reported in the state. The major reason behind committing suicide is heavy debts which farmers are unable to repay.
In 2019, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government rolled out the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Shetkari Karj Mukti Yojana, a fresh loan waiver scheme with an estimated expenditure of Rs 20,000 crore. While the state has so far credited nearly Rs 15,000 crore into the accounts of 20 lakh farmers, an additional Rs 5,000 crore is in the process of being released.