-The Indian Express Over 1,100 farmers had committed suicide in eight districts of Marathwada in 2015. Pune: The “all-out” efforts — as repeatedly being claimed by the Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra Government — to reduce the constantly rising suicide rates of distressed farmers in Marathwada seem to be yielding little results. The rate of suicides in Marathwada just does not seem to slow down. In the first month of this year, as...

-The Hindu The fact that a megapolis, and not the drought-affected areas of Maharashtra, is the biggest beneficiary, has angered many Bristling with glass towers and commercial districts, Mumbai is unquestionably the financial capital of India. The most greenery an average Mumbaikar can hope to grow is a few herbs in window flower-pots. Which is why it seems strange that the city will be the biggest beneficiary of agriculture loans, as projected by...

-Outlook A visit to Bundelkhand reveals a chilling state of affairs—one wrought in equal amount by nature, state negligence and policy failure Her answer still rings in my ears. “Bhaiyya, saawan ke mahine me ek paav daal laye thhe” (Brother, we last bought 250 grams of dal during the rains). I had asked her when was the last time she cooked dal for her family. This was village Mastapur in Tikamgarh...

-IndiaSpend.com Beed and Washim (Maharashtra): You would not think there was a worsening farm crisis in India’s second-largest agricultural economy if you met Jairam Jadhav in the central region of Marathwada, one of the areas facing a drought that equals the worst in a century. Jadhav, 35, is a happy man. Despite two seasons of truant rains, his well has enough water to supply his 20-acres of sugarcane, cotton and pigeon pea...

-The Hindu Decade after a Bombay HC order to increase farmer suicide compensation, State still pays affected kin only Rs 1 lakh. It’s been a decade since the Bombay High Court passed an order asking the State government to increase the Rs 1 lakh compensation given to families of farmers who commit suicide. However, Maharashtra has disbursed that same amount to 1000 farmer families over the last three years. The State informed the...