Congress offers relief to kin of farmer who killed self

Leader of Opposition Eknath Shinde on Monday visited the family and announced Rs 1 lakh relief from the Congress party. If adjudged as agrarian suicide by the state government, the family will receive another Rs 1 lakh. For any suicide to be adjudged agrarian, the farmer should have faced repeated crop failures or have had a loan burden he was unable to repay.

The west Vidarbha region is passing through one of the worst agricultural droughts in history with the soyabean sown on half of the total crop area almost entirely lost. Other crops like cotton and pulses have also been badly hit.

Till November 15 this year, 759 suicides have been reported from six districts in the region.