Question : Suicides by Farmers and Farm Labourers

(a) the number of suicides committed by farmers and farm labourers separately from 2014 to 2019, the details thereof, yearwise and State-wise including Odisha;

(b) whether the Government has authorized or sponsored any study to assess the causes of suicides by farmers including exploitation by financial institutions, if so, the findings and the details thereof including the amount spent and stakeholders involved;

(c) whether the Government plans to release an annual report on the situation of farmers to indicate whether we are on track to doubling their income by 2022 and if so, the timeline thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;

(d) the Union Governments’ assistance to the States to mitigate the crisis of farmers’ suicides, the details thereof including the central assistance provided during 2019-20; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government to curb farmers’ suicides across the country in the year 2019-20?

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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(a): The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs compiles and disseminates information on suicides in its publication titled ‘Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India’ (ADSI). These Reports on suicides are available upto 2016 on its website. The state-wise data on suicide committed by farmers and farm labourers including State of Odisha, in 2014, 2015 and 2016, is at Annexure-I. The Reports for the year 2017 onwards have not been published.

(b): Government conducted a study titled ‘Farmer Suicides: An All India Study’ during 2016-17 to ascertain various reasons for the growing number of farmers suicide in the country. This Pan-India study was carried out in 13 major suicide prone states namely: Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka covering 46 districts, 138 talukas, 388 villages and 528 sample victim households. The reference year of the study was decided as the agriculture year 2015-16 (June, 2015 – May, 2016). The main objectives of the study were as follows:


i) to analyze the incidence and spread of farmer suicides in selected states and to map the hotspots of suicide.

ii) to study the socio-economic profile, cropping pattern and profitability in the victim’s households,

iii) to study the causes leading to suicides.

iv) to recommend suitable policies to avert farmer suicide.

The study was assigned to Agro-Economic Research (AER) Unit ADRT at Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC) Bengaluru which is a part of Agro-Economic Research (AER) Scheme being implemented by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to conduct research studies on Agro-Economic problems. It is 100% funded through Grant-in-Aid by the Government and no study specific funds are provided to AER Centres/ Units. The study found that various reasons for farmers suicide are drug/ alcoholic addiction, illness, family issues, gambling, expectation of non-institutional credit, lack of access to expected credit, failure of rain, cyclone, drought, non realization of higher output/ prices, crop failure etc.

(c) to (e): There is no proposal to release an annual report on farmers’ conditions indicating the country is on track for doubling income of farmers by 2022, under consideration of the Government of India.

Agriculture being a State subject, the State Governments undertake implementation of programmes/ schemes for the development of the sector. Government of India supplements the efforts of the State Governments through various schemes/ programmes. The various schemes/ programmes of the Government of India are meant for the welfare of farmers by increasing production and remunerative returns to farmers. A list of various interventions rolled out by the Government for the welfare of farmers is at Annexure-II.

The state-wise details of funds allocated and expenditure incurred on various schemes during the year 2019-20 for the welfare of the farmers across the country, is at Annexure-III.

Further, the Government had constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee in 2016 to recommend a strategy for Doubling of Farmers’ Income (DFI) by the year 2022 for the farmers in the country. The DFI Committee submitted its report and thereafter the Government constituted an Empowered Body on 23.01.2019 for monitoring the implementation of the recommendation of the DFI Strategy.