16 pc rise in farmers' suicides in Maharashtra: Chavan

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister and state Congress president Ashok Chavan today claimed the number of farmers committing suicide has gone up by 16 per cent in the first five months of this year as compared to the corresponding period last year.
Slamming the BJP-led NDA government over the "agrarian crisis" in the state, he said the maximum number of suicides at 557 are from Vidarbha region which is the home turf of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
"There has been a shocking 16 per cent rise in farmers' suicide in the first five months as compared to last year. Last year, 1,095 farmers (had) committed suicide as compared to this year, where the number has gone up to 1,274. Out of these, the maximum (suicides) at 557 are from Chief Minister's Vidarbha region," Chavan told reporters here.

Giving the break-up, Chavan, a party MP from Nanded, said that 481 suicides have taken place in Marathwada, 199 in North Maharashtra and 37 in the western Maharashtra.
Chavan said, "It is the media that is taking cognisance of the prevalent agrarian crisis in the state but the government seems to blissfully neglect it. One thing is certain, farmers are not the priority of this government."
He said that the growing number of suicides shows that Rs 10,512 crore announced by the state government for 15,000 drought-hit farmers during the winter session of the legislature last year was just a "publicity gimmick".

"The CM says no to rescheduling of farmers' loans and does not even write them off. The sowing season has started but farmers have no money to buy seeds and fertilisers," he said.
Commenting on today's expansion of Union Council of Ministers, Chavan said the exercise has been more of "quantitative" in nature rather than being "qualitative".
"What the country actually needed was a qualitative change rather than a quantitative one. With the current inclusions, the country will not gain anything much," he added.