On November 8, 2019, After a long gap of 3-years, National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) ,an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data, has released the 2016 report called “accidental deaths and suicides in India” with reference to farmers’ suicides.
As per the report ,a total of 11,379 farmers died by suicide in India in 2016, a dip from 12,360 in 2014 and 12,602 in 2015.
Findings: Maharashtra accounted for almost 40 % of all farmer suicides in the country in 2016 with 3,661.The state also witnessed the highest number of farmer suicides in 2014 and 2015 at 4,004 and 4,291 respectively.
Key Points:
i. Karnataka has the 2nd highest number of farmer suicides, with 2,079 cases in 2016 and 1,569 cases in 2015. It was followed by Madhya Pradesh (1321 death in 2016), Andhra Pradesh(804 deaths in 2016) & Chhattisgarh (682 deaths in 2016) .
ii. In Telangana, such cases have reduced by half. Here 645 in 2016, 1,347 in 2014 and 1,400 farmers committed suicide in 2015.
iii.The 2016 data has not been released from West Bengal . The figures were not released even in 2015, while in 2014 there were reports of suicide of 230 farmers.
iv.The report states that the number of male suicides in farmers is high, while 8.6 % of female farmers have also committed suicide across the country. However, the reason for suicide has not been explained in the latest report.
v. A total of 3,33,407 farmers committed suicide in an agricultural country from 1995 to 2016. The death of such a large agricultural population raises concern on the economic policies of the government.
About NCRB:
Founded– 11 March 1986
Headquarters– New Delhi
Motto– Empowering Indian Police with Information Technology
