Concerned over a spate of suicides by debt-ridden farmers, the Indian government said on Friday it had approved a 170 billion rupees ($3.7 billion) package to provide financial relief in four badly-affected states, according to Reuters. Authorities say almost 3,600 farmers have killed themselves over the last five years, unable to repay loans and huge interest payments on them. Friday's decision by the cabinet would be implemented over the next three years in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and Karnataka, Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram told reporters. The package would include interest waivers, subsidies and rescheduling of loans. "The cabinet's decision for implementation of the rehabilitation package will help in mitigating the distress faced by farmers ... and will check the spate of suicides by farmers," a government statement said. The latest package comes on the back of more than $400 million announced as one-time grants for farmers in Maharashtra in July. The western state has been worst hit by suicides this year with nearly 1,000 farmers killing themselves so far. Most of India's farming community is poverty-stricken and many farmers borrow small amounts from the village moneylender at rates as high as 10-20 percent a month. India's economic reforms launched in the early 1990s have added to the farmers' woes, with duties that protected them from subsidised European and American cotton being phased out, experts say. Their debts soar when crops fail due to poor rains or prices tumble. Agriculture supports 600 million of India's 1.1 billion people, but contributes only a fifth of gross domestic product and accounts for only 12 percent of bank credit.
