Farmers should be given financial aid before crop seasons to prevent suicides: Maha official

The Aurangabad divisional commissioner has suggested that in order to stop farmers in Marathwada from committing suicide they should be provided a financial assistance of Rs 10000 per acre before the commencement every crop seasonThis conclusion has been made after the revenue department reached out out nearly five lakh families of farmers in the region as part of a survey conducted in December last year Divisional Commissioner Sunil Kendrekar told reporters on TuesdayThe Marathwada region which comprises Aurangabad Beed Hingoli Jalna Latur Nanded Osmanabad and Parbhani districts reported 1023 farmer suicides in 2022As many as 10431 farmers committed suicide in this region since 2001 as per figures provided by the divisional commissioners officeAlso Read Maha womens commission seeks setting up of panel to find missing womenKendrekar said the administration studied the socioeconomic condition of farmers and their families in the eight districts of MarathwadaThe survey was conducted to find the families where farmers were vulnerable to taking the extreme step due to various conditions The farmer suicide rate in Marathwada is more compared to other parts of Maharashtra he saidLess crop yield no good returns on crops climatic conditions problems due to wild animals and costly farming inputs were some of the main reasons for farmer suicides in the region We called four such families and had discussions with them the official saidHe said the families get aid after they lose their member to suicideTo find such suicide vulnerable farmer families we decided to reach out to the cultivators through a survey comprising 104 questions It was like a psychological test the official said Through this survey the farmers families were found that were tired of their socioeconomic condition he saidThe situation is serious There are families with girls to be married children who have left their education If a family has fiveseven acre of land and doesnt have ample water it yields less crop They take loans from banks and private money lenders he notedKendrekar said farmers need money in this risky business of farmingLike the Telangana government I think the farmers should be given an aid of Rs 10000 per acre before a crop season They can purchase seeds and make their farms ready for sowing After this they can purchase other farming essentials without any debt and interest We will recommend this to the state government soon the official saidMarket reforms are also necessary to prevent farmer suicides he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever