The cases of farmer suicides in Maharashtra are not stopping. As per the data, 73 farmers have committed suicide in Chandrapur district alone from January to July this year, including 13 in the last month. From 2001 to 2023, 1,148 farmers have committed suicide in the district, including 446 farmers in the last five years.
Compensation has been announced for the families of the farmers
According to the district administration, a committee comprising the district collector, Zilla Parishad chief executive officer and superintendent of police had declared kin of 745 farmers who committed suicide between 2001 and 2022 eligible for government compensation and 329 deceased farmer families ineligible. The district administration had sent a proposal to the government to give compensation to the next of kin of the deceased farmers and 48 cases are pending since December 2022.
Compensation is received on the norms
In case of suicide by farmers, the government gives compensation on the basis of fixed norms. “We are following the guidelines updated in 2006 to provide a compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh to the next of kin of farmers who commit suicide,” said a senior collectorate official.
Heavy loss to farmers due to rain and flood
A senior agriculture department official said that a total of 54,514.65 hectares of crops of 64,379 farmers in the district were damaged due to floods in June-July this year. He said that a total of 852 villages have been affected by the flood in the district.