The fields surrounding the central Indian village of Vangri in Nagpur are bone dry. Water is only available during the summer monsoon season.

Most farm families dwell in wooden shacks. A single room houses all members who huddle together on mattresses on the dirt floor.

Vangri is situated in the so-called "suicide belt," a region whose nickname is derived from the phenomenon among impoverished farmers.

One of them was Narayan. The deeply indebted cotton farmer was 53 years old when he decided to put an end to his life by swallowing pesticide on Nov. 10, 2007.

"Father couldn’t cope with the debts any longer," said his son, Vinod, who has since become the head of the family.

Narayan’s widow, Parvati, looked devastated as she sat on the floor at the entrance to the family’s shack with a corrugated tin roof.

Mango leaves threaded on strings hang in front of most houses in Vangri, about 150 kilometres south of the city Nagpur in Maharashtra state. People believe that the leaves would bestow wealth, but the reality in the village is different.

"Everyone in our village is deeply in debt," Vinod said.

According to government statistics, more than 180,000 farmers, the vast majority deeply in debt, have committed suicide since 1997.

In 2007 alone, more than 16,600 farmers chose to end their own lives.

The situation is an embarrassment for the Indian National Congress party-led government, which is seeking a return to power in month-long general elections that began earlier this month, after it took office in 2004 promising to relieve the rural population’s suffering.

But anger and anxiety are felt across the country for voting that is a tremendous organizational test for authorities.

Half of government aid ends up in corrupt officials’ pockets, observers estimated.

"Nothing has improved in the past five years," Vinod said. "We feel betrayed. ... We also have no faith in any national party. They make many promises but don’t fulfil them."