MUMBAI: When confronted with soaring cases of farmer suicides, the Maharashtra government has always claimed that all of these are not linked to agrarian distress. Only those cases in which the deceased farmer owned land and had evidence of indebtedness are considered genuine and eligible for state compensation.Even within this stringent parameter which typically serves of halve the numbers, Maharashtra touched a 15-year peak in 2015.From January to December 2015, the state recorded as many as 1,841 cases of "eligible" farmer suicides, according to the revenue department. This is the highest such figure since 2001. In fact, it is 52.5% higher than the 1,207 cases recorded by the Maharashtra government in 2014.In 2015, the state faced two droughts, with a poor monsoon in 2014 and 2015. The Marathwada and Vidarbha region were the worst hit.When asked about the rising graph, state agriculture minister Eknath Khadse said: "The cases of eligible suicides have been falling over the last few months. We will be taking a review to see the latest position." He added that the government had done more than previous governments to alleviate the crisis. This includes declaring a Rs 10,500-crore package for farmers and providing subsidized grain under the Food Security Act to affected families.Vidarbha, from where chief minister Devendra Fadnavis hails, continues to report the highest number of farmer suicides in the state. Of the total 3,228 farmer suicides reported in Maharashtra in 2015, almost half were from Vidarbha.Even in the suicides declared eligible for compensation, Vidarbha accounted for half. It reported 925 of the total 1,841 cases.Marathwada recorded one of the steepest rises in cases between 2014 and 2015, though overall it recorded fewer cases than Vidarbha. The total number of farmer suicides in the region increased from 574 to 1,130 - a rise of almost 97%. The number of farmer suicides eligible for compensation rose from 387 to 711, a rise of 83%.