Akshay Kumar likely to adopt village hit by farmers' suicides

Mumbai, Nov 7: Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is likely to adopt a village in the Yavatmal district of the state.

Collector Sachindra Pratap Singh yesterday signed the proposal made by the Chetana Abhiyan Project director and Resident District Collector (RDC) Rajesh Khawle in response to the instruction received from the Maharashtra government.

According to Singh, Akshay had recently met state Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in Mumbai. During the meeting, the minister briefed the actor about the woes of farmers in Vidarbha, particularly in Yavatmal.

Akshay volunteered to adopt one of the villages hit hard by the farmers' suicide, he said.

The government then asked the district administration to suggest a village which is having the maximum number of farmers' suicide.

Accordingly, RDC Khawle proposed the name of village Pimpri Butti and the collector has now cleared the concerned file which would soon be submitted to the state government for further action.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had in March last year visited Pimpri Butti village and stayed there overnight. He had also visited some adjacent villages during his stay in Pimpri Butti. He had assured all possible help from the government to thwart the ongoing spate in farmers' suicide in the rural areas of the district.

Later, the widow of a deceased farmer had committed suicide following which leaders from opposition parties went there and held rallies to protest the government's alleged 'apathy' towards the woes of debt ridden farmers whose crops had failed in the region.

The actor's office was unavailable for comments.