Maharashtra CM wants to rope in Deepika Padukone for engaging with farmers

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Saturday said he wanted Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone to engage with farmers against the backdrop of agrarian crisis in the state.

Maharashtra has witnessed hundreds of farmer suicides over the last few years.

"We would like to give Deepika Padukone a mission.... mission to engage with farmers," Fadnavis said at an event here where the actress launched her foundation `Live Love Laugh', dedicated to the issue of mental health.

"When you talk to anybody, the common word we hear is stress. Everybody experiences stress and people have their own ways of dealing with it. There are people who don't know how to deal with it...There are people who don't want to talk about it, share it," Fadnavis said.

Senior citizens sometimes call 100 (police control room no) because they don't have anyone to talk to, he said.

"We did a survey (with regard to farmer suicides) in two places and found out that 40 percent of farmers were under stress. More than the package, they need somebody to assure ...Reassure them that they exist...They are needed," the Chief Minister said.

Asked if he himself experiences stress, the CM said "we (politicians) lead a stressful life every day because of the challenges... When we look at newspapers...Media...But we manage it."