Mumbai: Two days after Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Eknath Khadse said that the government cannot stop farmer suicides, his cabinet colleague Deepak Sawant has decided to rope in health workers (anganwadi sevikas) to stop farmers from killing themselves.

Maharashtra Health Minister Deepak Sawant said health workers and Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) would monitor the mental health situation of farmers and their family members to detect any suicidal tendencies, so that these findings are reported to medical officers of local primary health centres.