Maha minister had asked Dharma Patil to approach middlemen:

NCP leader Ajit Pawar today told the Assembly that a minister in the BJP-led Maharashtra government had asked Dharma Patil, the farmer who attempted suicide in Mantralaya here in January, to contact "middlemen" if he wanted higher compensation for his land.
"As per my information, a state minister from Nagpur had asked Dharma Patil to meet some middlemen to get higher compensation for his land (which was acquired by the state government for a solar project). This is shocking.
"Had Patil's problems been addressed in time, he would not have ended his life abruptly," said the former deputy chief minister.

Patil (84), who hailed from Dhule in north Maharashtra, had consumed a poisonous substance at the Maharashtra secretariat in south Mumbai on January 22 seeking adequate compensation for his land. He died at the J. J. Hospital on January 28.
Pawar read out a detailed list of people who have either ended their life or tried to commit suicide on the premises of Mantralaya for various demands in recent past.
He said Mantralay has become a "suicide centre" because of the style of working of the BJP-led government.

"This is utter failure of the state government in addressing the issues of farmers and rural population. The government could not implement the loan waiver scheme successfully, it created several complications in crop-insurance schemes. It also put up a poor show in addressing woes of farmers whose crop was damaged in hailstorms," he said.

Referring to a safety net put up by the government inside the Mantralaya, Pawar said had the government resolved the issues related to farmers, they would not have gone there to end their life in frustration.
"In the winter session last December, the state government assured us of sharing a detailed list of farmers who benefitted from the loan waiver scheme. Till date, no names were announced or communicated to us," said the NCP leader.
During a drive to assess the damage caused by hailstorms, the officers treated farmers like criminals as they made them hold slates in their hands and photographed them, he said.

"Why such a humiliating treatment was meted out to the farmers who were already distressed? I have noticed that many ministers do not sit in their offices in the state secretariat. People from all corners of the state visit the administrative headquarter anticipating some help, but the ministers seems to have no interest in serving the people," said Pawar.