The deadly cycle of suicides continues in Maharashtra notwithstanding Finance Minister P Chidambaram’s loan waiver in this year’s Union Budget. On Tuesday, Vilas Daulta Suryavanshi, 50, a farmer from Dhanuri village in the Lohara taluka of Osmanabad district in Marathwada, ended his life by consuming pesticide after realising that his loans will not be waived as he had half-an acre of land in excess to the stipulated five acres.

According to fellow villagers, Vilas had mentioned in his suicide note that he had borrowed from the local banks to meet family demands and was under tremendous mental pressure. When he came to know that he had missed the waiver, he lost all hope and ended his life.

Vilas was admitted to the Solapur civil hospital by other farmers, but could not be saved. He died, leaving behind an eight-member family. “He had been worried, always thinking about the Rs 12,000 loan that he had taken from two local banks as the loan amount had mounted to Rs 57,000 including the interest in these few years,” his wife Kaushalya, 45, said.

The gram panchayat in Dhanuri village, which has a population of around 5,000, has started counseling farmers who have between five and six acres of land.