Farmers suicides not new, happening for many years, says Maharashtra agriculture minister Abdul Sattar | Mumbai News – Times of India

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MUMBAI: Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra agriculture minister Abdul Sattar on Sunday courted controversy once again by saying that farmers’ suicide wasn’t an issue that was new and that farmers have been committing suicides for many years.
Sattar made the statement after a tour of the unseasonal rainfall affected regions in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, his home district.
“Farmers suicides are not new. This is not a new issue. For many years farmers have been committing suicides. For giving relief to farmers families who have died by suicides, I have set up a committee under the Agriculture Commissioner. As an Agriculture Minister, in my region, I have personally visited the villages, the damage there isn’t very big. These kind of suicides must not happen anywhere in Maharashtra, leave alone my own constituency. But whatever damage has been done, I have told the Agriculture department officials and tehsildar to carry out punchnama at the earliest. We will ensure that no farmer is kept out of the crop damage relief. The final reports haven’t been submitted yet and any damage done will be incorporated in the final report,” Sattar said.
Officials also said that in their crop damage report, officials had excluded Soygaon taluka in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar from which Sattar hails as having no crop damage due to unseasonal rainfall. Reports said that three farmers had committed suicides in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district in the last few days.
Over the last six months, Sattar has courted several controversies due to his statements. He courted controversy after he used abusive words to describe NCP leader and MP Supriya Sule. Sattar’s comments led to state wide protests from NCP workers and leaders and widespread condemnation from across political parties including the Congress and Shiv Sena.
Last year, Sattar had described Sena leader and former Minister Aaditya Thackeray as “chhota pappu”.
Sattar also courted controversy after he asked Beed Collector Radhabinod Sharma if he drank alcohol. Sattar was on a tour of Beed district to inspect the crop damage caused by the retreating monsoon. At that time, Sattar, former minister Arjun Khotkar and some officers were sitting for tea.
Collector Radha Binod Sharma said, “I drink less tea”. On that, Abdul Sattar asked the question, “Daru peeta ka (Do you drink alcohol?)”. After his statement, there was a burst of laughter from everyone present. Sattar then asked people not to record the conversation but the video went viral on social media.

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