13,928 farmers died by suicide in Maharashtra from Jan 2022 to June 2026, RTI reply shows

Information obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act shows that 13,928 farmers died by suicide in Maharashtra between January 2022 and June 2026, an average of more than eight farmers a day. The figures have raised concern over the agrarian crisis, the rejection of compensation claims and the refusal to release district-wise data.

According to the state government's Relief and Rehabilitation Department, 8,945 of the 13,928 cases were found eligible for financial assistance. A total of 4,042 cases were declared ineligible, while 941 are still under investigation. All the figures cover January 2022 to June 2026 and were provided by the department.

Of the eligible cases, 8,650 families have received compensation of Rs 1 lakh each, taking the total disbursed to Rs 86.50 crore. Another 295 eligible families are still waiting for assistance.

The 4,042 rejected cases make up about 29 per cent of the 13,928 recorded. This raises questions about the eligibility criteria used to assess claims, and about whether the families concerned are being properly told why their applications were rejected.

Jitendra Ghadge, an activist with the Young Whistleblowers Foundation, has objected to this. He had sought, under RTI, district-wise and month-wise data on farmer suicides over 54 months, to understand the trend in each region and how deep the agrarian distress is running. The department refused to provide it.

According to Ghadge, on July 24 the department's public information officer, Snehal Sawant, told him that the information was held by the offices of the district collectors concerned and that he should approach them. He filed his first appeal on August 18. After a hearing on September 8, the department provided consolidated figures for the whole state, but not the district-wise data he had asked for. Despite the RTI appeal, the district-wise figures could not be obtained.

Ghadge says this is the first time in ten years that the department has refused to provide district-wise data on farmer suicides. He also alleged that senior government officials had pressured the department not to release the information.

It is important to understand why district-wise data matters. Without district-level data, it is difficult to establish which part of Maharashtra is worst hit by the agrarian crisis. District-wise and month-wise figures can help policymakers and researchers. They can identify areas where suicides are consistently high, reveal seasonal trends and new forms of distress, and help assess the reach and impact of government assistance schemes. They can also help direct financial aid and preventive measures to farming communities in need. Differences in approval of compensation, the proportion of rejected applications and delays in payment can also be studied only with such data.

Without such information, it is hard to judge how effective government measures are, and public scrutiny of government action is also limited. The 4,042 rejected cases and the 295 pending compensation cases underline the need for transparent eligibility criteria, timely decisions and clear communication with the affected families.

In June 2023, Ghadge wrote to the then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, demanding that the state government provide financial assistance to farm families whose compensation claims had been rejected.

According to the figures cited, 6,667 farmers died by suicide in 2023, including 217 deaths in drought-hit Marathwada. The government data cited counts 4,150 farmers, 2,519 farm labourers and 77 women farmers. These categories add up to 6,746, which differs from 6,667.

Ghadge has proposed expanding the Gopinath Munde Shetkari Apghat Vima Yojana to cover farmer suicides as well. He demands that the affected family receive Rs 2 lakh regardless of the cause of death. He has also recommended setting up taluka-level committees, especially of people working in the social sector. In his view, such committees could identify farm families in distress and help them access government welfare schemes before their situation worsens.

Ghadge says the Chief Minister's Office forwarded his email to the Agriculture Department, but he has so far received no reply.