On the first visit to her home town after becoming the President, Pratibha Patil [Images] on Saturday expressed concern at the spate of suicide by farmers in the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. Patil also stated that such acts put the family members of the deceased farmers in difficulty.

Addressing the audience at a civic reception by the Amravati Municipal Corporation, Patil said that suicide by farmers was unfortunate and a matter of great concern, but they did not solve any problems and put the rest of the family members in difficulty.

The President said that she discussed the farmers' suicide issue with Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar [Images] as well as state authorities and also suggested a few measures for the effective implementation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's [Images] financial package to bail out the farmers and curb the suicidal tendencies.

Bihar Governor R S Gavai presided over the felicitation ceremony, while Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and deputy chief minister R R Patil were prominent among those present.

Patil had represented Amravati in Lok Sabha while her husband was the first Mayor of Amravati.