Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Maharashtra records half of country’s farmer suicide cases -Julie Mariappan

Maharashtra records half of country’s farmer suicide cases -Julie Mariappan

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Jul 19, 2015   modified Modified on Jul 19, 2015
-The Times of India

CHENNAI: It is an indication of the distress in the agriculture sector in the country. As many as 5,650 farmers, including 68 in Tamil Nadu, committed suicide last year, mainly due to bankruptcy or indebtedness, family problems and crop failure, said the latest report of the national crime records bureau. The premier central agency has correlated the data for the first time, amid outrage over growing incidents of suicides in the farming community.

With half the population (48.5%) relying directly or indirectly on agriculture, it is a grim reminder for governments and stakeholders to take a relook at farm policies. Amid zero cases reported from states like Goa, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha and northeast, the alarming picture emerges in the central part of the country, with Maharashtra recording 2,568 suicides, followed by Telangana (898), Madhya Pradesh (826) and Chhattisgarh (443). Karnataka is the only state in the south reporting high number (321) of farmer suicides.

The farmers as defined by NCRB are those who own and work on field (cultivators) as well as those who employ/hire workers for field work/farming activities and exclude agricultural labourers. Of the total 1.31 lakh suicides recorded during the year 2014, farmers' suicides account for 4.3%. Kishore Tiwari, leader of the farmers' advocacy group, Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti of Nagpur, alleged the NCRB data was manipulated to give a rosy picture in the international arena when in reality, it was alarming. "Hundreds of farm labourers die every year in this region, but these cases do not figure in NCRB records," he said.

A total of 765 farmers in Maharashtra and 146 in Telangana have committed suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness caused by crop loans, the NCRB data said.

Incidentally, family problems and illnesses were cited as reasons for farmers of Tamil Nadu committing suicide. Tamil Nadu stands at number seven, with a record 68 suicides. Tamil Nadu farmers association P Shanmugam said the state administrative machinery was bent on registering the suicides due to reasons other than farm distress.

Hannan Mollah, the general secretary of All India Kisan Sabha, affiliated to CPM, blamed the neo-liberal economic policies of the successive governments at the Centre since 1990s for the mess. "It is a shame that farmers' suicides are considered a local phenomenon, even as hundreds were ending their lives across the country. It is unfortunate, the policy makers do not give a damn," the former MP from West Bengal said.

The Times of India, 19 July, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Maharashtra-records-half-of-countrys-farmer-suicide-cases/articleshow/48129249.cms


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close