200 farmers committed suicide in Marathwada, says official

The total number of farmers who committed suicide during the last three months in the eight districts of Marathwada region has crossed 200, official sources said on Tuesday.
The main reason behind taking the extreme step is bankruptcy due to loans which cannot be repayed due to crops destroyed by natural calamities.
Notably, last year, 510 farmers ended their lives. As of 2015, families of 105 farmers who ended their lives, received government assistance, whereas 29 farmers were not eligible.
When asked about rejection of aid to families of 29 farmers, a district administration official said, “The criterion for government compensation states that farmers who had committed suicide should have taken loans in his name and he should not be an alcoholic”.
About 39,77,000 farmers from the Marathwada region are eligible for compensation since crops including cotton, maize and soyabean were entirely destroyed, though the total number of farmers committing suicide in Marathwada is 206, official sources said.
It may be noted that a drought-like situation has prevailed in the region since 2011 and ground water level went down by about one feet.