Many villages in Maharashtra have been adversely affected by the unseasonal rains.
A census conducted in four villages of Maharashtra's Yavatmal district worst affected by the unseasonal rains says that 67 per cent of the farmers in the areas were suffering from depression.
Project Umeed, a joint effort of the Yavatmal collectorate and the Indirabai Sitaram Dekhmukh Bahu Udeshiya Sanstha, is being carried out to measure the severity of the disease in farmers. According to the survey, 10-12 per cent of the affected farmers were suffering from severe depression while 50-55% had mild to moderate depression.
"We decided to go for this depression census to gauge the intensity of the problem and a road map to devise how to stop this shameful reality of farmer suicides," explained collector Rahul Ranjan Mahilwal, adding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has encouraged them to take the survey in other villages.
The village of Pimprikalga, according to the findings, was the most disturbed with 81 per cent of the surveyed farmers found to be in some stage of depression. The village is located at the border of Yavatmal and Amravati districts and has little access to regular water supply or electricity.
"My father committed suicide. I too get similar thoughts but I stop thinking because of my kids," says Sunil Dahake, a local farmer who has an unpaid loan Rs 50,000 and has been diagnosed with severe depression.
Successive governments in Maharashtra have failed to address the issue of farmer suicides, which have been rampant in the last 20 years.
"There is an urgent need of psychiatric intervention to stop potential suicides. Those who are suffering from severe depression need anti-depressants as well as counselling. The rest need to be taken care of at the village level," Dr Prakash Chakarwar, a psychiatrist with the NGO explained, adding support systems at villages needed to be created.