Loan waivers may not end Maha farm crisis
DISTRESS 1,129 suicides this year, experts say genuinely distressed may still get no help
MUMBAI: Even as the demand for farm loan waivers was at its peak and Maharashtra farmers’ outfits were preparing to begin their agitation, as many as 243 farmers committed suicide in May. As many as 1,129 farmers have killed themselves between January and May this year.
Osmanabad (in central Maharashtra) and Yavatmal (in Vidarbha) were the two districts from which the maximum farmer suicides were reported. In Amravati, 426 farmers committed suicide this year, while the number in Aurangabad was 380.
However, the number of suicides has dropped slightly, compared to last year’s tally of 1,293 during the corresponding period.
Officials from the agriculture department expect the number to drop further after loan waiver is implemented. “In 2008, loan waivers by the then Congress-led government had brought respite to farmers. The suicide rate dropped immediately. This time, too, the trend is likely to repeat,” said an official.
Activists, however, said loan waiver was unlikely to help reduce the rate of suicides. “Farmer suicides continued despite the Sangharsh Yatra, strikes and talks of loan waiver in April and May as farmers do not have faith in political leaders. The farmers’ agitation was restricted to western Maharashtra. Farmers in Marathwada and Vidarbha, which have a high suicide rate, did not participate,” said Amar Habib, a farm activist.
“The government should give monthly financial aid to genuinely distressed farmers if it really wants to reduce the suicides,” he added.
The Fadnavis government has announced that the loans of farmers in Maharashtra will be waived by the end of October. Waivers worth ₹33,000 crore are likely to benefit about 30 lakh farmers.
In 2016, 3,063 farmers committed suicide despite satisfactory rainfall, following three consecutive years of drought. The falling prices of agricultural produce and outstanding loan payments left the farmers distressed, despite the bumper crops in 2016-17. Experts blame the failed policies of the government for the plight of the farmers.