600 farmers have killed themselves this year alone between January and March.
A few days before Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited Amravati in Maharashtra on a 'padyatra' or trek to meet farmers' families, the bloated body of a 35-year-old farmer was recovered from a well located in his own fields. His crops had failed three years in a row.
Gajanan Khongal is survived by his aged parents, wife and a four-year-old son who wonders where his father has gone. The farmer had taken a loan of Rs. 60,000 from a cooperative bank. His family suspects he had borrowed more from private moneylenders. With bank officials frequently visiting his house and pressurising him to pay back the sum, he had slipped into depression.
Under heavy debts, Gajanan was denied compensation as a compulsory government document (form 7/12) that establishes ownership and usage of agricultural land was not in order.
"He did it because of debt. He had to repay loan and he did not get any compensation. That's why he committed suicide," his elder brother Kishore Khongal told NDTV.
For the families' of farmers, the fear of an uncertain future overshadows their grief. The Khongal family hopes Rahul Gandhi's visit to the region will be followed by some relief for them.
"I never thought he would do this. Never. Now I am worried about my child's future. How will I run my home? The government should help us," said Gajanan's grieving wife.
35,000 farmers in the state committed suicide between 2004 and 2014 during the Congress-NCP rule and over 600 farmers have killed themselves this year alone between January and March.
The reason for this, experts say, is that the government compensation never reaches the right person due to gaps in policy formation and implementation which no political party has seriously looked into.
"It's a tradition to keep ownership in father's name till he is alive. But the younger farmer is not treated as a farmer in government records. If he ends life, the family doesn't get government aid. The government should amend rules," says writer and activist Chandrakant Wankhade.
But the local BJP lawmaker Anil Bonde says his government is looking at making rules more farmer-friendly.
"When the local government officials start harassing farmers cannot take it and develop suicidal tendencies," he said, adding that the BJP government has amended laws after coming into power and the effect of this will show in the years to come.