2,498 Farmers Died By Suicide In 11 Months, Reveals RTI Reply

An RTI query revealed that in 11 months, between January 1, 2021, and November 21, 2021, a total of 2,498 farmers had died by suicide in Maharashtra. And in 2020, a total of 2,547 farmers had ended their lives in the state.

According to the data released by the state revenue department, despite the government's loan waiver schemes and other similar schemes to support farmers, they continue to die by suicide because of their inability to repay the loan.

Affected Regions

Vidarbha has always had to bear the brunt, with almost half the suicides in the state reported from the region. The district of Amravati (331) has surpassed Yavatmal (270) as the leading one to record the highest number of suicides compared to last year in 2020.

The division of Aurangabad (773 to 804) and Nagpur (269 to 309) has already seen a hike in suicides compared to last year in 2020. In contrast, the Konkan division has recorded no suicides over the previous two years.

Countrywide Data

According to the NCRB data of 2020, suicides of farmers and agricultural labourers are increasing instead of declining in Maharashtra (2021). Overall, 10,677 people committed suicide in the country's agriculture sector in 2020, which is 7% of the total suicides in the country (1,53,052). It includes the suicides of 5,579 farmers and 5,098 agricultural labourers. Maharashtra topped the list with 4,006 suicides. It was followed by suicides in Karnataka (2,016), Andhra Pradesh (889), Madhya Pradesh (735).

The Times of India quoted RTI activist Jitendra Ghadge, who had sought this information from the state government through RTI, saying, "Despite several loan waivers and all the schemes started in the interest of farmers, the suicide rate is not slowing down."

According to the experts, the government will have to think beyond the loan waiver things. The mental state of farmers is also one of the primary reasons for suicide. The RTI activist said that instead of loan waivers, the government needs to bring an insolvency scheme for bankrupt farmers.

Dnyandev Talule, head of the Economics Department, Shivaji University, says that there is a need to promote the cultivation of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and vegetables (shift in cropping pattern) given the climatic conditions of Marathwada and Vidarbha. It will help in improving the state of the farmers.

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