Nagpur: Another farmer death in Maharashtra has failed to wake up the government who is still having war of words over Vedanata-Foxconn controversy.
The latest farmer death comes from the Pune region. the farmer allegedly died by suicide after jumping into a pond as per the police. The deceased has been identified as Dashrath Lakshman Kedari and a suicide note was recovered. The suicide note mentioned about not getting minimum support price (MSP) for the crops and harassment by the loan recovery agents.
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21 April 2025
Kedari also blamed the Maharashtra government for not helping the farmers and also blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inaction and demanded MSP.
60 per cent of India’s population is still dependent on agriculture for its livelihood but the situation of the farmers hasn’t become better since years. The farmers are compelled to kill themselves.
As per the NCRB report, 10,881 involved in the farming sector (5,318 farmers and 5,563 agricutlutra; labourers) have committed suicide in 2021. Shockingly, states and union territories like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripupra, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chandigarh, Lakshadweep and Puducherry reported zero suicide cases of farmers and cultivators.
The Marathwada region
As per official figures, over 600 farmers have committed suicide in the Marathawada region between January 1, 2022 to Mid-August. The data also revealed that 547 farmers died by suicide from January 1 to July. August alone witnessed 37 farmers’ deaths.
According to reports, excessive rains in the month of July affected the agricultural land and over a lakh farmers across 24 districts in the region.
Another reason of farmers suicide in the country is high priced chemicals, fertiliser, seeds, soil and other agricultural equipments. The constant increase in the prices have become less affordable for the farmers. It has become more like a burden rather than a source of income.
Nagpur region
The situation in Nagpur, too, remains grim after the district recorded 5 farmers suicides in the span of one week.
In less than two weeks, six farmers in total have committed suicide due to crop failure. On September 11, 52-year-old Ishwar Narayandas Bangare committed suicide at Lohara village due to his debt burden and crop failure.
Vishal Umarkar (62), died by suicide on September 4 by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his home in Ambada village. He had allegedly taken a crop loan of Rs 3 Lakh. On the very same day, another farmer, Krishna Sakharam Sayama (36) from Mauda Tehsil ended his life. Sayama had borrowed money from his relatives who used to force him to pay back, as per the police.
35-year-old Ashol Nilkanth Sarwe, residing in Umri village died by suicide on September 3 after being upset over crop failure, according to the police.
The cycle seems to be never ending and the farmers fall into the trap. The farmers take loans to irrigate the barren land, after being unable to pay the debts, they believe that taking their lives is much simpler than the harassment.
