Question : Suicide by Farmers

(a) whether the Government is aware that the farmers are committing suicide in various parts of the country and if so, the details thereof during each of the last three years and the current year along with the major reasons for the same, State-wise;

(b) whether the Government has conducted any study to ascertain the reasons for growing number of farmers suicides in the country, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has prepared any specific plan/policy to prevent suicide by the farmers in the country and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the present policy for tackling the suicide cases of farmers is ineffective and if so, the response of the Government thereto including the steps taken to prevent suicides by farmers by creating conditions favourable for farmers;

(e) whether debt burden on each farmer is more than that of average annual per capita income in the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to remove indebtedness and provide adequate remunerative prices for farm produce to farmers?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY 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 upto 2015 are available at its website. The Report for the year 2016 has not been published yet. The State wise details of suicides in farming/ agriculture sector during the years 2014 and 2015 as per NCRB Report may be seen at Annexure-I. Further, as per this Report, ‘Bankruptcy or Indebtedness’ and ‘Farming Related Issues’ are reported as major causes of suicides among farmers/ cultivators. Other prominent causes of farmers/cultivators suicides are family problems, illness etc.

(b): Yes. A study titled ‘Farmer Suicides: An all India Study’ has been conducted during 2016-17 by the Government 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. The study was assigned to Agriculture Research Unit, ISEC Bangalore and was completed with the association of the Agro-Economic Research Centres. 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:


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1. To analyze the incidence and spread of farmers suicides in selected states and to map the hotspots of suicide.

2. To study the socio-economic profile, cropping pattern and profitability in the victim’s households.

3. To study the causes leading to suicides.

4. To recommend suitable policies to avert farmer suicides.

(c) & (d): Agrarian distress as manifest from large number of farmers living below the poverty (BPL) line and unfortunate incidents of suicides can be addressed by enabling the farmers to increase their income. With this understanding, the Government is targeting to double the income of the farmers by the year 2022. To achieve this, the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers’ Welfare has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee to examine various dimensions of farmers’ income and to recommend an appropriate strategy. In the meanwhile, the Government is realigning its interventions to move from production-centric to farmers’ income-centric platform. The Department has, therefore, been implementing various schemes to meet this objective viz. Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme, Neem Coated Urea, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), National Agriculture Market Scheme (e-NAM), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), Interest Subvention Scheme etc.

(e): The State/UT-wise details of estimates of outstanding loan and average monthly income per farmer household during the agricultural year July 2012- June 2013 as reported in the Situation Assessment Survey of Farmers conducted during January 2013- December 2013 may be seen at Annexure-II.

(f): Government has taken several steps to remove indebtedness and to provide adequate remunerative prices for farm produce to farmers, through increased MSPs, higher level of procurement & e-NAM. Measures taken by Government to minimise indebtedness from non-institutional sources of lending include fixation of annual targets for improving agricultural credit flow, provision of crop loans upto Rs.3.00 lakh @4% per annum to such farmers who repay their loan as per the repayment schedule fixed by the banks, extension of benefit of interest subvention scheme to small & marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a further period upto six months for storing their produce in warehouses against negotiable warehouse receipts, collateral free loan upto Rs.1.00 lakh, scheme for financing of Joint Liability Group (JLGs) etc.