3,450 farmers ended life in 3 yrs, Maha tops list

New Delhi: As many as 3,450 farmers committed suicides in the country in the last three years with Maharashtra, the home state of food and agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, accounting for the maximum number of deaths. According to figures provided to Parliament by Pawar, 1,720 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra during 2007-09, followed by 1,142 in Andhra Pradesh and 434 in Karnataka.
    Farmers’ suicides continued in 2010 as well, with six cases in the Vidharba region of Maharashtra, Pawar told the Rajya Sabha. However, as compared to 2008, the number of farmers driven to taking the extreme step came down in 2009.
    On an all-India basis, the number declined from 1,237 in 2008 to 840 in 2009. The drop in these deaths took place in all the major states where farmers commit suicides, mostly because of indebtedness. Pawar said the government had approved a Rs 16,978 crore-package for four states besides a number of steps, including lowering interest rate on crop loan.
    “In order to ameliorate the condition of farmers in areas having comparatively higher incidence of suicides, the government has approved a Rs 16,978-crore rehabilitation package for Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala and Karnatka,’’ he said. AGENCIES Chavan: Farm relief plan to continue for 5 years
Amravati: Expressing deep concerns over the unabated farm suicides in the Vidarbha region, Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan promised to extend the CM’s package for five more years. “We want the suicide count to be zero. For that, the government will extend all possible support to farmers,” he said. Clearing the air over the extension of Vidarbha Statutory Development Board (VSDB), Chavan said, “The VSDB has been given an extension of five years, not six months, as published in some newspapers. Considering the issues of Vidarbha, we need to give extra attention to it and hence the government has granted the five-year extension.” He also assured to give sufficient funds for the completion of irrigation projects in the region. Chavan said the irrigation potential coverage of the state is 21% while that of the country is 40%, hence we need to increase it.     Vaidehi More