6 debt-ridden farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha: VJAS

Nagpur, May 30 (UNI) Six debt-ridden farmers committed suicide in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra in the last two days, activists have said.

According to Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a voluntary organisation working among farmers in the region, the farmers who ended their lives included one each from Akola, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Washim, Bhandara and Amravati districts.

With this, the number of farmers who had taken the extreme step in 2007 had touched 407, a VJAS press release said here today. These included 70 in January, 88 in February, 86 in March, 90 in April and 73 in May, it said.

Meanwhile, VJAS has threatened to launch an agitation next month to demand complete waiver of outstanding loans of farmers in the region. Farmers were in dire straits as the government had refused to give them fresh loans unless the earlier borrowing was repaid, the press release added.

UNI