JOIN USAfter 35 years of first farmer suicide, Vidarbha remains a 'graveyard of farmers'
On March 19, 1986, a farmer, Sahebrao Karpe and his entire family comprising his wife and four minor children, ended their lives at Chilgavhan village of Yavatmal district in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra.
Incidentally, today marks the 35th anniversary of the first suicide by a farmer or a farmers’ family in India.
Located in central India, the Vidarbha region that borders Madhya Pradesh to the north, Chhattisgarh to the east, Telangana to the south and Marathwada and Khandesh regions of Maharashtra to the west -- in the last three decades has become the suicide capital of the country.
Although Karpe owned adequate land and a house, he was driven to take such an extreme step because of crop loss and the inability to repay his debt.
“It was a sad incident and we have seen what happened thereafter. There was a spate of suicides by farmers in the Vidarbha region and then in other places across the country,” said Kishore Tiwari, the Yavatmal-based founder of Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti.
Tiwari, who is also the chairman of the Maharashtra Government’s Vasantrao Naik Sheti Swavlamban Mission (VNSSM), said the crisis is deeply concerning and the government needs to take measures to ensure that the agrarian economy is intact.
“Several people are observing a fast as a remembrance,” said Tiwari.
Veteran Gandhian and peace activist Jatin Desai said: “Yavatmal and surrounding districts are known as ‘graveyard of farmers’.
Karpe and his wife first poisoned their four kids and then took poison and died.
In his suicide note, he had said -- "It is impossible to survive as a farmer."
Since then, thousands of farmers have committed suicide for not getting remunerative prices for their product.
"It is time MSP should be applied to all agricultural produce. The government of the day must talk to farmers and resolve their issues,” Desai added.