Maharashtra: Debt ridden farmer who attempted suicide dies in hospital

An elderly farmer, who allegedly consumed poison over two weeks back apparently due to crop failure and non-waiver of farm loan, has died, officials said on Tuesday.

Pundlikrao Bapurao Supalkar, a resident of Dabha Pahur village in Babhulgaon tehsil of Yavatmal district in Vidarbha region, breathed his last in Government Medical College in Yavatmal on Monday.

The 65-year-old had been admitted to the hospital on June 29 when he consumed poison to end his life since he was distressed over crop failure and non-waiver of farm loan under the Government's restructuring scheme, his family said.

Supalkar has four acres of rain-fed land on which he had sown soyabean which failed due to non-arrival of monsoon. He had obtained loan from money lenders and attempted a second sowing which also failed due to lack of rain, they said.

He had also taken a loan from the Yavatmal District Central Co-Operative Bank which he could not repay. Though the Government has declared a scheme for restructuring of loan dues in order to enable farmers to get fresh credit, Supalkar did not get any relief under the programme, the sources said.

Resident Deputy Collector (RDC) Rajesh Kawle confirmed the death of Supalkar but did not provide further details, saying he is waiting for details from local officials which will be available in a week. Supalkar's death is the latest in a series of farmers' deaths reported from Vidarbha.