Siddhivinayak Temple Trust will fund education till graduation; sets aside Rs 1 crore for the same.This resolution will bring back the smiles in homes where tragedy once struck. The law and judiciary department has issued a government resolution (GR) stating that the Siddhivinayak Temple will fund the education of children of farmers who committed suicide after failing to deal with natural disasters like drought and heavy rainfall that damaged their yields.“We have received the GR and we have already sent a copy to all district collectors asking them to send the details of such farmers and their children,” said Sanjeev Patil, chief executive officer of the Siddhivinayak Temple Trust. He added that the temple authorities had decided to fund the education of these children till graduation. “Our committee is in the process of working out the criteria. Education of the children will be funded from the date that the GR has been issued,” said Patil, adding that the cut-off year has not yet been decided.To begin with, the temple trust has set aside Rs 1 crore for the scheme that will be popularized as ‘Siddhivinayak Scholarship Scheme’. The annual proceeds collected by the temple add up to Rs 65 crore. The temple currently implements several schemes like subsidized dialysis, donations for medical procedures etc. “Farmer suicides have been a concern for the state since long. We had floated the idea of doing something for the education of the farmer’s children and that is when this plan came about,” said Patil, adding that the temple trust approached the government with the plan. After studying the possibilities, the GR was issued.Farm activist Kishore Tiwari, who is the president of Shetkari Sawalambhan Mission said that it is a good initiative by the temple trust. “However, there are lakhs of farmers who are unable to fund the education of their children as they cannot afford it. Such farmers should be helped by the trust so that they don’t take the drastic decision of ending their lives,” said Tiwari, adding over 96 lakh farmer families have been affected due to drought in Maharashtra. Since 1997, Maharashtra has recorded 70,000 farmer suicides.In 2014, Maharashtra recorded 1981 farmer suicides and 1,296 cases in 2013. The arid region of Marathwada recorded 438 cases till June, accounting for 34 per cent of the total cases. The north Maharashtra belt has recorded 158 cases. The sugar bowl of western Maharashtra accounted for 32 cases while the Konkan region has reported only one case so far this year.However, only 55 per cent of the suicides recorded by the revenue department so far have been declared eligible for compensation. To be considered an “eligible suicide”, the land has to be in the victim’s name and there should be evidence of indebtedness. The government claims only these cases are linked to agrarian distress.