How big an election issue is farmer suicide in Vidarbha?
There are many issues for political parties in the maharashtra assembly elections. One of these burning issues is farmer suicide. 1267 farmers committed suicide in maharashtra from january to July this year. Out of these, 557 deaths occurred in Amravati of Vidarbha alone. Even now, farmers in the Vidarbha region are committing suicide in despair due to unseasonal rains and not getting proper prices for crops.
The Vidarbha region is famous for cotton and soybean cultivation. In the last few decades, cases of farmer suicides have increased due to unseasonal rains, low minimum support price (MSP), fall in crop prices and inflation. These farmers are appealing to the government to fix a fair rate for cotton and soybean crops based on the inflation rate.
According to a PTI report, Kalavati Bandurkar, who has emerged as the data-face of Vidarbha's agrarian crisis, said, "The farmers do not get a fair price for their crops, they are trapped in a debt trap. What else can be expected from them except suicide? Farmers say that the prices of cotton have remained the same for 10 years. The rate of soybean has also not increased. There has been no change in the price of the produce for the farmers."The farmers here are trapped in a debt trap. Due to difficulty in getting loans from banks, they have taken loans from moneylenders, due to which they are burdened with debt. And in the event of not being able to repay the loan, suicide has become the only way out for them.
This is the demand of the farmers
The farmers say that the price of cotton should be at least Rs 10,000 per quintal, which is only about Rs 7,000. The rate of soybean is also close to Rs 4,000. The government price of crops may not have increased, but the price of products used in agriculture has increased considerably. They are not able to save anything by selling their agricultural produce at the same rate. In such a situation, it is difficult for them to even meet their daily expenses.