India is primarily an agricultural country. More than 75% of the population depends on agriculture. Farmers are the backbone of the nation. Without them, we cannot survive.
They sweat it out day in day out without rest. They are highly involved in tilling the soil, sowing the seeds, watering the fields, reaping and harvesting the crop and then they sell it to the market.
The sad reality is that they are less unfortunate people who giving absolutely everything to the nation. They dedicate their whole life for us but they themselves live a poor life. Needless to say, they can also be called as the ‘God of the soil’.
It is heartbreaking but true that the farmers’ suicide cases have increased over the years. Several farmers in India commit suicide due to various reasons. It may be due to weather conditions, debt issues, unable to pay kids’ fees, family problems, health issues, unfavourable government policies and so on.
As many as 300 farmers killed themselves in November in Maharashtra. A month after Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took charge at the office, he made a promising announcement to the farmers.
He announced a full farm loan waiver under which short-term crop loan up to 2 lakh rupees taken by farmers between April 1, 2015, to March 31, 2019, will be cleared.
But, the majority of the farmers had debts of more than Rs two lakh and hence they will not be eligible for any benefit under the scheme.
More than 12,000 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in three years between 2015-2018.