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Mumbai: The Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Maharashtra, for National and Community Affairs, Abdul Mujeeb Shaikh has voiced concern over the high number of farmers suicides reported in Maharashtra.
In a statement to the media, Abdul Mujeeb Shaikh said, “Recently, a report prepared by the Amravati divisional Commissionerate showed that a total of 557 farmers in Amravati region committed suicide in the first 6 months of 2024. Of those suicides by farmers – Amravati had 170 suicides, Yavatmal had 150, Buldhana had 111, Akola had 92 and Washim had 34 suicides. Historical data shows that in 2023, the state of Maharashtra had 2,851 farmer suicides, in 2022 the number was 2,942 and in 2021 we had 2,743 farmer suicides. This is extremely distressing and a cause of grave concern. The government should immediately explain the reasons for this situation and spell out their strategy to prevent such a tragedy.”
Continuing further, the JIH Maharashtra Secretary said, “The reasons for the high suicide rate are crop losses, lack of adequate rainfall, existing debt burden, and the absence of timely farm loans that should be given by nationalized banks. In the absence of bank loans, the farmer is forced to take a loan through the “Sahukar” (money lender) at a high rate of interest. In many cases, the farmers do not get the MSP. Small and marginal farmers cannot afford to buy the required chemicals, fertilizers, seeds, and equipment like tractors and submersible pumps. Jamaat-e-Islami Hind believes that farmers should be provided loans at zero interest and there should be a loan waiver scheme for deserving and marginalized farmers. The government should fulfill its promise of doubling farmers’ income and come out with a time-bound plan to solve Maharashtra’s agrarian crisis and the end to farmers suicides.”