137 farmers ended their lives in last 45 days, says Ajit Pawar

Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar informed the Maharashtra Assembly on August 18 that 137 farmers have ended their lives in the last 45 days.

He said Marathwada, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Gadchiroli, Chiplun, and the entire Konkan region is facing a flood situation due to heavy rainfall.

The Nationalist Congress Party leader said, “We can clearly see effects of global warming in our State. Our rivers are overflowing and our farmers are dying. In the last 45 days, 137 farmers have died by suicide.”

He went on to say that the announcement by Chief Minister (CM) Eknath Shinde of ₹13,600 per hectare aid for farmers affected due to floods and heavy rains was “very low.” He said the amount is meagre given that the farmer leaves behind a family with children. He questioned, “How is a family expected to survive and repay the loans with this amount?”

He informed the house that no panchnama is done if a small portion of farmer’s land gets affected due to rains and this needs to be changed as it becomes very difficult for the farmer’s family to claim compensation without the panchanama.

He urged the CM and deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to conduct a survey, visit all the places badly affected due to floods and increase the ex-gratia amount.

The former Finance Minister also brought up the death of twins of an Adivasi woman in Palghar, three hours away from Mumbai a day after Independence day. He said, “On August 15, we celebrated the Amrit Mahotsav and the next day a woman lost one boy and one girl as there was no hospital or nursing home in Palghar and she was taken on a palkhi (palanquin) made of rods.”

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “This is a really unfortunate and sad incident and all steps should be taken to ensure this is never repeated.”