1,120 Farmers' suicides in Vidarbha, say activists

Nagpur, July 3 (UNI) At least 1,120 debt-ridden farmers have committed suicide in the last one year in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, activists here said.

Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti (VJAS), a non-government organisation working among farmers in the region, said it recorded 1,120 suicides from July 1, 2006, when Prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh announced the Rs 3,750 crore special relief package, till June 30, 2007. These included 994 in the six districts, where the package is being implemented and 126 in the remaining five, a VJAS release here said.

Among the districts under the package, Yavatmal district was the worst affected, with 283 suicides, the press release said, adding that there were 180 suicides in Amravati district, 131 in Akola, 151 in Washim, 145 in Buldhana and 104 in Wardha. In the other districts, there were 27 suicides in Nagpur district, 32 in Bhandara, 41 in Chandrapur, 12 in Gadchiroli and 14 in Gondia, the release said.

There were 90 suicides in July 2006, 111 in August, 124 in September, 112 in October, 107 in November and 105 in December, it said. There were 70 suicides in January 2007, 86 in February, 82 in March, 90 in April, 79 in May and 64 in June, it said.

VJAS said four more debt-ridden farmers had committed suicide in Vidarbha in the last 24 hours, taking the total in 2007 to 479.

These included two from Yavatmal district and one each from Nagpur and Washim districts, it added.

UNI