A farmer who had received the Maharashtra government’s ‘Yuva Shetkari’ award in 2020 ended his life on Thursday in Buldhana district over crop and irrigation woes, a police official said.
Kailash Nagre (42) consumed poison at his farm in Shivni Aarmal village in Deulgaonraja tehsil this morning, the Andhera police station official said.
In the month of December, Kailash Nagre had staged a hunger strike for 7 days to get permanent water for the agriculture in Panchkroshi. At that time, Kailash Nagre had given an assurance to the administration that he would call off his hunger strike. However, Nagre had taken the stand to agitate once again on January 26 as the promises were not fulfilled. However, Nagre had postponed the hunger strike after the assurance of the guardian minister at that time. Even after two months, the government did not take any concrete stand, due to which Kailash Nagre, who was fighting for water for hundreds of farmers, ended his life by consuming poison.
“A four-page suicide note spoke of lack of crop production and shortage of water supply for irrigation. He wanted the government to find a solution to lack of water supply to farms. His suicide note does not name anyone as being responsible for his extreme act. Nagre had won the Yuva Shetkari award in 2020,” he said.
An accidental death report has been registered and further probe is underway, the official added.
With PTI inputs