Farmer attempts self immolation outside Maharashtra Assembly

The incident comes barely two weeks after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the government will double the amount of compensation that the farmers affected by the excessive rains in July are entitled to get.

Mumbai: A man claiming to be a farmer from Osmanabad attempted self-immolation on Monday outside Maharashtra Assembly where the monsoon session is underway. The incident took place at around 12:30 pm. The policemen deployed outside the assembly extinguished the fire and saved Subhash Deshmukh. He was admitted to the nearest hospital for treatment.

It was not immediately known what forced the man to take the extreme step. The incident comes barely two weeks after Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced that the government will double the amount of compensation that the farmers affected by the excessive rains in July are entitled to get. CM Shinde made the announcement on August 10 after the first meeting of his expanded cabinet.

As per the current NDRF (National Disaster Response Fund) norms, a farmer receives Rs 6,800 per hectare as compensation. Also, earlier NDRF norms were applicable for damage to crops on a maximum of two hectares. "We have decided to change it to three hectares," Shinde said. "As much as 15 lakh hectares of agricultural land has been affected due to heavy rains in Maharashtra this monsoon," the chief minister said.