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NEW DELHI: The number of suicides by those engaged in the agricultural sector saw a marginal decline in 2019 compared to 2018, and its share of the country’s 1.39 lakh suicides also fell to 7.4% from 7.7% during the corresponding period.
According to the report on ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’ (ADSI) for the year 2019 published by National Office of Criminal Records (NCRB), a professional breakdown of suicides shows that 23.4% were daily gambling, while 15.4% were housewives. In 2018, the share of daily bets was slightly lower at 22.4%, while the share of housewives at 17.1% was higher.
Of the 10,281 suicides of farmers, growers and agricultural workers reported last year, up from 10,349 in 2018, 5,957 were farmers or cultivators and 4,324 agricultural workers.
Maharashtra accounted for the highest proportion (38.2%) of agricultural sector-related suicides in 2019, followed by Karnataka (19.4%), Andhra Pradesh (10%), Madhya Pradesh (5.3%) and Telangana / Chhattisgarh ( 4.9% each).
Interestingly, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry reported “ zero ” suicides by farmers, growers and agricultural workers in 2019. This was also the case in 2019. 2018, with West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Goa, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Ladakh and Puducherry returned ‘zero’ suicides.
As of 2018, the NCRB report on suicides has not revealed the dissolution of farmer suicides for causes such as agricultural problems, poor harvests, family problems, etc. In response to a question from Parliament, the Home Office had declared that it was untenable to record the reasons for homicides on farms and many states report “zero” suicides.
Interestingly, the ADSI 2019 report claims that it contains details of farmer suicides by cause, social status, educational status, etc. But these data have not been published.
Overall, total suicides in the country rose 3.4% from 1.34 lakh in 2018 to 1.39 lakh last year. The suicide rate as well (suicides per lakh of population) also increased from 10.2 to 10.4 in the corresponding period. Family problems, problems related to marriage, and illness together accounted for about 55% of all suicides in the country.
While 70.2% of suicide victims were men, 29.8% were women.
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