Poll buzz drowns out issues? Nashik farmer ends life over ₹75K

Shelke is survived by his 35-year-old widow, Jayashree, and two sons – Pranav, 18, and Tejesh, 14. According to the family, a large portion of Shelke’s loan amount was used to purchase water for consecutive crops, in final attempts to save each crop cycle from the heat.

Amid big promises of cash payments and loan waivers in Nashik district, a 44-year-old pomegranate farmer from Malhan village in Sinnar tehsil, Santosh Shelke, committed suicide, as he couldn’t pay a loan of ₹75,000 owing to severe drought and multiple failed crops.

The Shelke family owns about 1.45 hectares of land. They grow pomegranate, interspersed with crop cycles of onion, wheat and corn. (HT Photo)

The state declared Sinnar drought-hit earlier this year, but the farmers are yet to get the compensation. Nashik goes to polls on April 29.

Shelke is survived by his 35-year-old widow, Jayashree, and two sons – Pranav, 18, and Tejesh, 14. According to the family, a large portion of Shelke’s loan amount was used to purchase water for consecutive crops, in final attempts to save each crop cycle from the heat.

Rahul Kotade, tehsildar of Sinnar, has submitted a primary report to the Nashik district collector to check if the family is eligible for compensation. “We have submitted a report with all details such as Shelke’s bank statement, financial condition, and farm records. We will now visit the family along with a police inspector to verify some other information.”

Pranav, who was the last one to see his father on April 14, is still in a state of shock. He had seen his father standing on the edge of the well in their farm, before he jumped to death. “My husband was depressed for the past three years. He had stopped talking to everybody. We never thought he would take this extreme step,” said Jayashree.

“On Saturday, the day before Santosh ended his life, he called me four times, which was rare,” said Harishchandra Shelke, 51, Shelke’s older brother, who lives in Sinnar, a few km away. “The sky was cloudy in Malhan and Sinnar. So he was calling constantly to check if it had rained.” Only some places in Sinnar saw infrequent rain on Saturday evening.

The Shelke family owns about 1.45 hectares of land. They grow pomegranate, interspersed with crop cycles of onion, wheat and corn. With little or no rain during the past three years, multiple crops have dried up on Santosh’s land. Harishchandra said, “During one crop cycle, Santosh sowed corn, but there was no moisture in the soil, so it didn’t grow. Santosh then sowed another cycle in the same soil – but this time both the seeds sprouted. With no symmetry or space for the crop to breathe, Santosh lost two crop cycles in one go, and suffered heavy losses.”

“My older son just took his Class 10 exams. He now wants to go to college. But we have no money to pay his fees,” Jayashree said.

The family owns two cows, which produce about 30 litres of milk a day. This earns the family a monthly income of ₹3,000-4,000.

According to the sarpanch of Malhan village, Gangadhar Bhalerao, who is also Shelke’s neighbour, “Santosh was pegging his hopes on the money he was supposed to get from the government, under the Central scheme and another drought relief scheme. He waited for the first installment, but we found out the period during which this first installment was to be transferred got over recently. When the government makes such promises, they need to understand that farmers actually wait for the money.”

Over the past two years, the farmers of this region participated in a strike in June 2017, and in two protest marches – one of which ended at Azad Maidan in Mumbai in 2018. Among their demands were a complete loan waiver, solution to the water crisis in this region, and ownership of forest land tilled by adivasis.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley, in his budget speech, had announced that each farmer would get ₹6,000 as direct cash benefit under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sanman Nidhi. The first installment was released in February. In Maharashtra, the government started the scheme on February 24, shortlisting 1.2 crore farmers. In the state, 30 lakh beneficiaries have so far received the amount.

Harishchandra said, “We are not certain, but the loan amount with interest came to ₹1.45 lakh. As this amount kept increasing, Santosh grew depressed about the humiliation if someone came to his door to recover the loan, or confiscated his land. It was his biggest worry.”