Patekar, along with actor Makarand Anaspure, donated Rs 15,000 each to families of 62 farmers from Vidarbha region who committed suicide. However, Nana doesn’t think it’s a big deal. “I am not doing a big deal. All of us want to help, but most of us are not sure if the money we want to give will reach the right people. So, I decided to visit these people myself and help them,” he said in an interview with Mid Day. His aid is not just monetary. He is also trying to start a dialogue between the farmer community and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, who he says is an old friend. Mid Day.
When asked if he’s insecure about not having enough money for himself by the end of the day, he said, ” Paisa is a by-product. I will get it anyway. Rs 10 crore or Rs 100 crore won’t give me security. I feel secure by doing this. It is only a bandage on a huge wound. But in the process I am securing that human being that is still alive in me. Everyone will forget me if I stop acting in films. You won’t come to interview me, but I know that those people (farmers) will remember me for life.”
Farmer suicide is a tragedy that our country continues to face year after year. According to a United Nations report , a farmer dies every 32 minutes in our country. Maharashtra alone is accounted for about a quarter of the entire country’s suicides and recorded 1,306 deaths this past year. The figure is 40 % more than the previous year.
