Ten farmers commit suicide in Vidarbha, toll rises to 29 in Jan

The agrarian crisis in Vidarbha has forced 10 more farmers to kill themselves in the past 48 hours.

The agrarian crisis in Vidarbha has forced 10 more farmers to kill themselves in the past 48 hours.

With the latest deaths, the toll has risen to 29 this month while the figure was 56 last month. In 2014, 1,142 distressed farmers had committed suicide in Vidarbha. According to reports on Friday, six victims were from Amravati, two from Yavatmal and one each from Chandrapur and Akola district.

Kishore Tiwari of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti claimed that the much-hyped `2,000-crore relief aid announced by the administration had not been disbursed to the farmers yet.

Tiwari said the Devendra Fadnavis government had announced a `7,500-cr relief package for the drought-hit farmers in December 2014 but not a single farmer had got the money.