The latest data released by the NCRB report revealed that 10349 farmers suicides in India in 2018. That means 28 farmers killed themselves every day in 2018. Untimely rains and drought conditions in parts of India in 2018 also the reason for high number of farmer suicide.
The Report
The home ministry data showed that 10349 people working in the agriculture sector committed suicide in 2018. This is 7.7% of 1,34,516 total number of people who ended their lives in 2018. Out of this, 5763 (5,457 male and 306 females) were farmers and 4586 (4071 males and 515 females) were agricultural laborers. The figures are less as against the previous year’s farm sector suicides of 11,379. NCRB did not publish data for 2017. However, it affirmed that the rate of suicide death has increased by 0.3 % as compared to the previous year.
State-Wise Data
Maintaining its position, Maharashtra again made to the top of the suicide list. The state reported 17972 suicidal deaths making 13.7% of total suicides. Further, Tamil Nadu reported 13,896, followed by West Bengal (13,255), Madhya Pradesh (11,775) and Karnataka (11,561) which accounted for 9.9, 8.8 and 8.6% to the total suicides, respectively. While these five states accounted for 50.9% of total suicidal deaths, the remaining states and UT’s accounted for 49.1%. UP, despite being the most populous state had only a 3.6% share in total suicides. Delhi reported the highest number of deaths by suicides (2526) among the UTs and zero farmer suicide.
Other Suicidal Deaths
The data also revealed that the number of unemployed and self-employed people committing suicide was more than farmers. While self-employed accounted for 9.6% (12,936], unemployed accounted for 9.6 percent (12,936) of the total suicides. On average, 35 unemployed and 36 self-employed people ended their lives daily in 2018. Further, the report added that the government servant constituted 1.3 % (1,707) to the total suicidal. Also, 17.1% of total suicide victims were housewives as per the report.
Experts expressed suspicion on the data provided as some states tried to represent the watered-down picture of the scenario. In all, despite government efforts, farmers fail to get benefits and end their lives.