News Analysis India

Tag: farmers suicide

  • Debt-ridden farmer, teen daughter die by suicide in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur

    By PTI

    SHAJAPUR: Burdened by debt, a farmer and 17-year-old daughter allegedly committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance at a village in Madhya Pradesh’s Shajapur district on Thursday, police said.

    Ishwar Singh Rajput (40) died at his home in Sapkheda village, about 50 km from the district headquarters, an official said.

    On seeing him dead, Rajput’s daughter Khushboo also consumed the poisonous substance and was rushed to a hospital, where she died during treatment, inspector Uday Singh Alawa of Kotwali police station said.

    Preliminary probe has revealed that the farmer was in debt and was facing financial hardship, due to which he took the extreme step, the official said, adding that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem and a case has been registered.

    The police are recording the statements of family members of the deceased to know how much debt he had incurred.

    (If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation – 04424640050 (available 24×7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ helpline – 9152987821, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm)

  • Five-fold increase in farmers’ protests across India, finds new study

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: Farmer protests in India have registered an almost five-fold increase since 2017. From 34 major protests across 15 states in 2017, the number has now gone up to 165 protests across 22 states and Union territories.

    Every day, over 28 farm labourers and cultivators commit suicide in our country. In 2019, there were 5,957 farmer suicides, along with an additional 4,324 farm labourers who died by suicide, according to the State of India’s Environment in Figures 2021.

    Today, India has more farm labourers than farmers – in 52 per cent of the country’s districts, the population of farm labourers has outstripped that of farmers and cultivators. Bihar, Kerala and Puducherry have more farm labourers than farmers in all their districts.

    These statistics points that India is sitting atop a massive time-bomb of agrarian crisis and disquiet, and the clock is ticking away. 

    CSE director general Sunita Narain said: “There is drama in numbers, especially when these numbers give you a trend – are things getting better or worse. It is even more powerful when you can use the trend to understand the crisis, the challenge and the opportunity.”

    In the case of agriculture and land, things seem to be certainly on the downside. 

    “This is evident all the more when you see the condition of land records and their maintenance in the country. Our analysis shows that 14 states in India have witnessed a deterioration in the quality of their land records,” says Richard Mahapatra, managing editor of Down To Earth. 

    According to Narain, “at a time and age when the quality of data available to us is usually poor – it is either missing, unavailable publicly or of questionable quality – a collection like this can be immensely helpful, especially for journalists. Improving the quality of data can only happen when we use it for policy.”

  • Farmer dies by suicide in Uttar Pradesh

    By PTI
    BANDA: A 55-year-old farmer allegedly hanged himself from a tree in Jaspura village in Uttar Pradesh’s Banda district, police said on Tuesday.

    According to his family members, the farmer took the extreme step as he was upset over stray cattle damaging his crop.

    The farmer, Subhash Singh, was found hanging on Tuesday morning, Station House Officer (SHO) Pankaj Kumar Singh said.

    The farmer’s son told police his father had gone to the field on Monday night but did not return.

    The body has been sent for post-mortem, the SHO said, adding a probe is on into the matter.

    (If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call AASRA’s 24×7 Helpline: +91-9820466726 for assistance.)