NEW DELHI: NCP-SCP MP Fauzia Khan on Thursday said in Rajya Sabha that as many as 766 farmers have died by suicide in Maharashtra in the last three months, and questioned when farmers will "become dear to the government".
Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha, Khan said Maharashtra leads the country in farmer suicides, with the state government informing the Assembly about the 766 deaths in three months.
Of these, 676 families received government aid, while 200 were denied assistance, she said.
Khan said that despite the announcement of a Rs 31,628-crore relief package following heavy rains and widespread floods this year, the ground reality was different.
She pointed out that Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had told the Lok Sabha that the ministry received no proposal from Maharashtra seeking additional aid.
Under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), Rs 4,176 crore was allocated to farmers, of which the Centre's share was Rs 3,180 crore, and Rs 82 crore was deposited into the bank accounts of 1,13,455 farmers, Khan said, citing Chouhan's response.
"The poor farmer is shocked by these numbers," she said.
The NCP-SCP MP highlighted discrepancies in data, saying that while state Agriculture Minister Dattatray Bharne stated that floods affected 14.36 lakh hectares across 19 districts, the report sent to the Centre mentioned only 1,10,309 hectares.
"Where are the 14 lakhs, and where is the one lakh? This is unfair and a joke with the farmers," Khan said.
She emphasized this was not a routine seasonal setback but a massive agricultural disaster affecting lakhs of farmers, and argued that coverage under the current crop insurance framework remains inadequate.
"I have a question to the government. When will the farmers become dear to the government?" Khan asked.