To create a fund to help the victims of the farmer suicides that are on the rise in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra

VIDARBHA JAN ANDOLAN SAMITI (VJAS) is an organization founded by Kishore Tiwariji (http://www.theweekendleader.com/Crusade/447/vidarbha%E2%80%99s-hope.html).

The VJAS has been monitoring suicides by farmers and providing rehabilitation support to their families. They have taken up issues with the administration, judiciary, legislature, human rights bodies and international forums. In a region comprising more than 70 percent backward population, VJAS has been taking up issues like malnutrition among tribals, their right to food and education, and drinking water supply.

Listen to Kishore Tiwari talk about the farmer suicide situation. Below is the official data from the ncrb (National Crime Records Bureau)

2001: 52
2002: 104
2003: 148
2004: 447
2005: 445
2006: 1,448
2007: 1,246
2008: 1,268
2009: 916
2010: 748
2011: 918
2012 : 916
2013 : (Till 5th September —613)