Lenders will face murder cases if harassed farmers die by suicide, Shinde warns in Nanded

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday warned microfinance companies, banks and moneylenders that they would be booked for murder if a drought-hit farmer took his own life because of their harassment.

“Microfinance companies, banks and moneylenders should not harass the farmers who are in distress,” Shinde said at the inauguration of a 100-bed sub-district hospital at Wadi Budruk in Nanded district. “If any farmer dies by suicide due to harassment, murder cases will be registered.”

The warning comes days after a farmer’s body was found inside a finance company’s office in Nanded. His family alleged he had borrowed Rs 10,000 and the company was demanding Rs 70,000.

The state has declared drought in 304 of its 358 tehsils where the two trigger stages used to judge drought were set off this kharif season. Shinde said farmers would get Rs 5,000 in immediate aid before Diwali, with more to follow once crop-loss surveys are done. “This Rs 5000 as an aid is immediate help,” he said, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah had promised support. “Do not lose courage or take any extreme step,” he told farmers.

Shinde also said his party, the Shiv Sena, would take responsibility for the weddings of farmers’ daughters, and asked Health Minister Prakash Abitkar to make sure the new hospital has CT scan and dialysis facilities. Abitkar said cancer treatment would come to Nanded under the Maha Care initiative with support from the Tata Memorial Trust, and a 500-bed building for the Shri Guru Gobind Singhji District Hospital will be built with Asian Development Bank help.