Question : Database of Farmer Suicide

(a) whether the Government maintains any database for the suicide of farmers in a year and if so, the details of the number of suicides by farmers during the past five years particularly in Odisha;

(b) whether any study has been/is being conducted to identify major causes of such suicides and if so, details thereof;

(c) whether the Government grants any compensation to the family of farmers who commit suicide;

(d) if so, the amount of compensation given for the past three years and the total funds disbursed for such compensation during the past five years; and

(e) whether the loan waiver scheme initiated by the Government has benefitted farmers and has helped in reduction of suicides among farmers for the reason of debt?

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). NCRB has published reports upto 2020 which are available on its website. As per the NCRB Reports, the details of the number of suicides by farmers/ cultivators in the State of Odisha during the past five years is as under:

Year No. of farmers committed suicide in the State of Odisha
2016 20
2017 0
2018 0
2019 0
2020 0


(b): Government had undertaken a study “Farmers Suicide in India: Causes and Policy Prescription” as an all India coordinated study in the work plan 2016-17 through the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru. The study covered 13 states of the country which included Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The study concluded that frequent crop failure due to vagaries of monsoon, absence of assured water resources and attack of pest and diseases are the most important causes of farmers’ distress.
(c) & (d): Agriculture being a State Subject, the State Governments provide relief.

(e): In order to cover farmers under institutional credit ambit, the Government has initiated a saturation drive i.e. Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to make them eligible for Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for concessional credit.

Benefit of concessional institutional credit through KCC at 4% interest per annum on prompt repayment, has also now been extended to Animal Husbandry and Fisheries farmers for meeting their short-term working capital needs.

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