Farmer’s Suicide: 116 committed suicide in last 3 months
FollowAbout 116 farmers have committed suicide due to agrarian reasons so far this year, with maximum cases reported from Maharashtra, followed by Punjab and Telangana, Parliament was informed today.
More than 2,000 farmers' suicide cases were reported due to agrarian reasons in 2015 with highest number of 1,841 cases in Maharashtra alone, as per the data placed before Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Agriculture Mohanbhai Kundariya.
As per the data, 57 cases of farmers' suicides were reported in Maharashtra on February 29 this year, while 56 farm labourers' suicide cases in Punjab were registered on March 11. In Telangana, there were three cases, Kundariya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.
In total, 116 farmers and labourers committed suicide in last three months due to agrarian reason.
Asked if the government has taken steps to mitigate the impact of drought on farmers and prevent them from committing suicide, the minister said it has approved Rs 12,773.34 crore relief package to 10 states affected by drought during kharif (summer) season of 2015-16 crop year (July-June).
Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Rajasthan are reeling under drought. The minister said the rabi crops including wheat were affected in 15.06 lakh hectare due to unfavourable weather conditions in Rajasthan and Haryana. Even the Karnataka government had sought a central assistance of Rs 1,417.14 crore, due to damages.
Besides relief package, the government has taken other measures to deal with the situation of drought including implementation of diesel/seed subsidy and relaxed norms under MGNREGA to provide additional employment of 50 days over and above 100 days per household in areas affected by natural calamities, the minister said.
