73 farmers die by suicide in Maharashtra's Chandrapur within seven months

The district administration has sent a proposal to the government for providing compensation to the kin of the deceased farmers.

As many as 73 farmers have died by suicide in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district from January to July this year, including 13 last month, as per the district administration data.

From 2001 to 2023, 1,148 farmers have ended their lives in the district, including 446 in the last five years, according to the data.

A committee comprising the district collector, zilla parishad chief executive officer and superintendent of police had declared 745 farmers, who died by suicide between 2001 and 2022, as eligible for government compensation and 329 deceased cultivators as ineligible, as per the district administration.

The district administration had sent a proposal to the government for providing compensation to the kin of the deceased farmers and 48 cases are pending from December 2022, the data said.

"We are following guidelines updated in 2006 for providing the compensation amount of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of farmers who commit suicide," a senior official from the collectorate said.

In case of suicide by farmers, the government provides compensation based on a fixed criterion.

For reasons like crop loss, inability to repay loan from nationalised banks/co-operative banks or recognised moneylender, and failure to repay the loan, the kin of farmers will be eligible for a compensation of Rs 1 lakh, out of which Rs 30,000 will be handed over to them, while the remaining amount of Rs 70,000 will be deposited for five years into their accounts, as per the government resolution issued in 2006.

A total of 54,514.65 hectares of crops belonging to 64,379 farmers in the district were damaged recently due to the flood in June-July this year, a senior official from the agriculture department said.

He said a total of 852 villages were affected due to the flood in the district.

Gondpipri tehsil recorded the highest crop damage on 12,571 hectares of land, he said.

The department has already sent a proposal of Rs 44.63 crore of compensation for crop damages in the district, the official said.

A total of 3,51,091 farmers have taken Re 1 (premium) crop insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in the district, including 50,890 farmers who have taken loans and 3,00,201 non-loanee cultivators, according to the agriculture department.

A total of 3,28,155.26 hectares of crop have been insured under the PMFBY in the district, it said.

The state government will pay the premium of Rs 98,59,30,865.33 while the central government will pay the premium of Rs 45,05,15,938.23 to the insurance company on behalf of farmers for crop insurance, the official said.

Loans worth Rs 87489.25 crore were given to 98,177 farmers from district cooperative bank, public sector banks (nationalised) and gramin bank during the kharif and rabi seasons in 2022-23, against the target of Rs 129100 crore given to the banks by the government, a senior official from the district administration said.