Fresh survey of farmers' suicides soon: Deshmukh

Nagpur, May 13 (UNI) The Maharashtra government will soon undertake a fresh survey into suicides by farmers and come out with a factual report on the situation, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh announced here.

The task of conducting the survey would be assigned to reputed institutions like Tata Consultancy and the Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research (IGIDR), Mr Deshmukh said.

The incidence of suicides by debt-ridden farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra had decreased after the implementation of two relief packages, the Chief Minister asserted.

He was addressing a meeting yesterday in Yavatmal to review the implementation of the relief packages, announced by the state government and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the distressed farmers.

Mr Deshmukh expressed satisfaction at the implementation of the two packages announced for the six most suicide-prone districts of Vidarbha. The deadline for the repayment of outstanding loans for farmers to avail of fresh loans at the discounted interest rate of six per cent would be extended to June 30 to enable more farmers to benefit from the facility, Mr Deshmukh said. The earlier deadline was March 31, he said.

The scheme of mass marriages under the relief packages was evoking a huge response, Mr Deshmukh said. The cheque of Rs 10,000 given as assistance to couples participating in the mass marriage ceremonies would henceforth be issued in the name of the groom's father, he added.

The meeting, attended by several ministers and senior officials, was held to review the implementation of the Rs 1,075 crore relief package for Vidarbha's farmers announced by the Government of Maharashtra in December 2005, and the Rs 3,750 crore package announced by the Prime Minister on July 1, 2006.

Meanwhile, BJP Maharashtra unit President Nitin Gadkari dismissed the chief minister's claim that the relief packages had helped contain the incidence of suicides by farmers.

In a statement issued here, Mr Gadkari said that Mr Deshmukh was misleading the Union government and the people of Maharashtra with his baseless claims. ''It is unfortunate that the Chief Minister was resorting to politics on such a sensitive issue'', Mr Gadkari added.

UNI