767 suicides reported in Jan–Mar 2025; activists question efficacy of state relief measures

A staggering 767 farmer suicides were recorded in Maharashtra in the first three months of 2025, averaging at least one suicide every three hours, according to a statement by State Rehabilitation Minister Makrand Patil in the legislative assembly. The grim figure has once again thrown a spotlight on the persistent agrarian crisis in India’s most distressed rural regions.

Patil revealed the figures on July 1 in response to a question on government support for families who have lost their primary breadwinners to suicide. The highest number of suicides occurred in the drought-prone Vidarbha region, followed by the Marathwada belt — both long-standing hotspots of farmer distress.

Vidarbha and Marathwada Worst Hit
Of the 767 suicides, 257 cases – nearly one-third – came from the western Vidarbha districts of Yavatmal, Amravati, Akola, Buldhana, and Washim. The neighbouring Marathwada region reported 192 cases during the same period.

An additional 55 farmer suicides were reported in the months of April, May, and June, according to data from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar divisional commissionerate.

Compensation and Relief: Too Little, Too Late?
Patil informed the House that compensation of Rs 1 lakh had been approved in 373 of the 767 cases reported from January to March. Of these, compensation has already been disbursed in 327 cases. However, 200 claims were rejected, and 194 cases remain under scrutiny.

Beyond compensation for loss of life, the state is also providing financial aid to farmers for standing crop losses due to unseasonal rain and other calamities. Under a combined central and state initiative, farmers receive Rs 12,000 annually – half from the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) and half from the state government.

Efforts are also being made to improve irrigation coverage, increase the minimum support price (MSP), and provide psychological counselling to distressed farmers, Patil said.

Activists and Experts Slam Government Inaction
Despite these measures, farmer advocacy groups remain deeply critical of the government’s response. In a letter to the Chief Minister on 30 June, Vishnu Dhoble, regional president of the Samajwadi Janparishad, accused both state and central governments of failing to address the root causes of the crisis.

Dhoble pointed to a Rs 60,000-crore irrigation package approved in 2023, alleging that most of it remains unimplemented. “More than 3,000 farmers have died by suicide in the last three years,” he said, citing figures from the state revenue department.

Structural Exodus from Farming
Echoing concerns of deeper structural decline, veteran journalist and rural affairs expert P Sainath cited Census data showing a sustained exit from agriculture. “In the 2001 Census, 7.2 million farmers left agriculture. The 2011 Census showed another 7.7 million drop,” he said during a public address in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar last month. “Nearly 2,000 farmers are quitting farming every day in India due to rising debt and unviable incomes.”

The fresh data presented in the Maharashtra assembly, coupled with growing criticism from civil society, suggests that despite multiple policy announcements and relief packages, the agrarian crisis continues to extract a deadly toll on India’s rural population.