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Maharashtra farmer ends life, 25 suicides in five days

A farmer committed suicide inside a government office on Wednesday after losing patience over delay in receiving a relief cheque, taking the toll of farmers' suicides in Vidarbha region to 25 in five days.

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WANI (MAHARASHTRA): A farmer committed suicide inside a government office on Wednesday after losing patience over delay in receiving a relief cheque, taking the toll of farmers' suicides in Vidarbha region to 25 in five days.

Pundalik Girsawle of village Tejapur came to the sub-district agriculture office on Wednesday morning - his fourth trip in as many days - and waited for the cheque till late in the evening before consuming poison. Some employees rushed him to the hospital where he died within half an hour.

Surprisingly, a cheque worth Rs.4,470, folded many times over, was found in his pocket after the death, giving rise to speculation that some official might have slipped it in while taking him to the hospital in an attempt to escape the rap.     

Agriculture officer Arun Khangan admitted to reporters on Thursday that the bank was sending cheques to his office late and in small batches, leading to late payments to beneficiary farmers.

"Pundalik got the cheque directly from the bank on Wednesday after much delay but was asked to return it for making an entry in the bank register and collect it later from the Agriculture office", Khangan said.  

Forty-five-year-old Pundalik used to till a four-acre dry farmland that was in the name of his widowed mother and supported a family of five, including his wife and three daughters. The sanctioned aid was meant for buying a pair of bullocks.

Pundalik's suicide is 25th such incident in the region since the Dec 15 announcement of an aid of Rs.1,500 per hectare (up to two hectares) to cotton farmers and 71st in the current month.

"Twenty-five suicides in five days is the most natural expression of dismay over the paltry aid when the farmers were expecting much more," said Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti president Kishor Tiwari.

An incident of firing on irate farmers killing one of them here Dec 8 had rocked the state legislature in Nagpur and forced the government to expedite purchase of cotton from farmers.

While the state cotton federation is purchasing 400 cartloads and 20 tractor-loads of cotton here daily with more waiting for their turn, the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) purchase centre in Ghatanji nearby stopped the purchase prompting about 1,000 farmers to resort to a flash road blockade stir on Wednesday.

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