Farmer suicides, which have been a cause of concern particularly since various governments took steps to move India from an agrarian to a manufacturing economy, have seen a decline, a culminative analysis of the much delayed National Crime Records Bureau data for four years reveals.
While a 10% overall decline in recorded suicides between 2016 and 2019 among those involved in the agriculture sector has been noted, suicides by farm hands steadily declined by 15%. In the same period there has been decrease of 5% in suicides by farmers.
For many agriculture and rights observers, the good news of less suicides is a bitter pill to swallow. Many question the authenticity of the 4-year data and the timing of the release. The 2016 report was published with a 3-year delay.
The suicides have been classified into two categories – cultivators i.e. farmers or landowners and farm labour. The year wise data shows that 11,379 suicides were reported in both categories in 2016 while in the following year the number of suicides dipped by 724.
In 2018, there was a further decrease in suicides and 10,349 cases were filed across the country.
The number of recorded suicides in the farming sector further dipped to 10,281 last year.
While Maharashtra continues to see the most farmer suicides followed by Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, the delay in the publication of these reports also becomes problematic as there is no state-wise data available. The column noting the main reasons behind why thousands of India’s kisans prefer death over life have too been left blank.
