Farming and cultivation is the main
occupation of several Indian individuals. For its essential staple diet, India
depends upon farming and agriculture. India is the second-most populous country
in the world; a large part of this enormous population earn their living from
farming and agriculture.
Very clearly, India largely depends upon
cultivation. Its farmers and field workers are the people upon which it heavily
demons for their food and other cultivation.
Naturally, hence, we should take good care of
these people who supply us with our food after days of hard toil out under the
sun. However, it is not the case. Unfortunately, innumerable farmers in India
are reported to commit suicides periodically.
Statistics show that nearly 18000 farmers had
committed suicide in 2004; this is the highest number record so far in a year.
Of the suicides committed in the country, 11.2% account for farmer suicides.
The main reason that compels farmers to take
their own lives is frustration and irritation from the standard of living that
they usually have to live. They live in deliberate poor conditions and are not
able to achieve a decent lifestyle owing to the government’s negligence on
their part.
Apart from human-made and government-imposed
neglect for the farmers, natural causes also contribute to the rate of their
suicides. Prolonged periods of drought with little or no rain at all yield very
little produce.
A tremendous loss is inflicted in their
yearly harvest; all the money and time spent in making previous arrangements go
to vain. Draughts bring about considerable damage in the agricultural sector.
Similarly, floods also contribute to the loss of agricultural produce.
Water gusher over the crops, and erode them
or wash them away; nothing remains, fields after fields get cleared. All the
time, energy and money spent on the harvest go to vain.
Such tremendous losses lead to debts; the
farmers fall in a dark hole of unpaid debts. They run out of courage to resume
work; they also run out of money to clear their debts away. Hence, they enter
into periods of depression, that finally makes them take away their own lives.
Areas that are prone to floods and droughts
record a higher number of farmer suicides every year. Farmers also incur
tremendous losses in selling thorn crops. A large part of their income is
swallowed by the capitalist stores which sell their produce.
As a result, only a bit of the total profits
trickles down to the farmers. A large portion of the benefits that they have a
right on does not reach them at all. Apart from this economic robbing, farmers
are socially robbed as well.
They have to live daily under unfortunate circumstances; the government does not provide them a comfortable scenario where they can live. Such depressing and repressive events give way to their suicides.
Farmers’ Suicides –
Basic Facts:
1. Seven states in the country account for 87.5% of the farming sector suicides. They are Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Maharashtra shows the highest figures out of these states.
2. Suicides are not restricted to marginal farmers. Even small farmers are committing suicides.
3. Even the state of Punjab, which benefited maximum from the Green Revolution, has its share of farmer suicides. From 1995 to 2015, 4687 farmers were reported to commit suicide from Punjab with one district Mansa reporting 1334 suicides.
4. In 2012, Maharashtra alone accounted for 25% of the farmer suicides in the country.
Causes of Farmers Suicides in India:
1. Rise in input costs
there has been an overall increase in agricultural input costs. Cost of seeds and chemicals like fertilisers and pesticides. Cost of agricultural equipment – agricultural equipment like tractors, pumps, etc. add to the surging cost of inputs.
2. Labour costs
Hiring animals and labourers are also getting increasingly expensive, adding to
the burden. Schemes like MGNREGA and the increase in the minimum basic income
has been counter-productive for agriculture.
3. Loan distress
As
per the National Crime Records Bureau, 2474 out of the researched 3000 farmer
suicides in 2015 had unpaid loans from banks. Interestingly, contrary to
popular perception, only 9.8% of the loans were from money-lenders.
This could imply
that muscle-power and harassment by money-lenders could not be a major driving
force. The data from the Bureau also shows a strong linkage between farmer
suicides and indebtedness.
While Maharashtra and Karnataka had the highest number of farmer suicides, these two states also had a high rate of suicides for indebtedness.
4. Lack of direct market integration
Despite innovative government schemes like e-National
Agricultural Market (eNAM), removing or minimising intermediaries in this
sector is proving to be more difficult than easy.
5. Lack of awareness
While there are schemes and policies aimed at helping farmers, a lack of
awareness pushed by the literacy and digital divide in India, is proving to be
an obstacle in improving a lot of farmers, especially marginal and small ones.
They are unaware
of the schemes, or do not know how to avail of the benefits offered to them by
the government, and thus suffer.
6. Water crisis
A look at the figures for suicides also reveal that there is a concentration of
suicides in the water-deficient regions like Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Failing monsoons
only add to the voes of the farmers. Interstate water disputes also cause
unnecessary distress on the farmers. Water shortage has led to a failure to
meet the production demands.
7. Climate change
Climate change is also affecting farmers and agriculture. Uncertain monsoon
systems, flash floods, etc. have led to crop losses. Deferred monsoon also causes
production shortfalls regularly.
8. India’s economic policies
India’s economic policies are generally urban consumer-driven as
reflected in the exigency to impose price controls in case of price rise (like
bringing produce under the Essential Commodities List) and withdrawal once the
price is under control.
Such policies
limit the profit margins and mar the farmers’ chances of breaking the debt
cycle.
9. Loan waivers
Loan waivers are populist measures undertaken by the government as an
appeasement policy to secure certain votes. Rather than loan waiver, the
government should focus on reinvestment and restructuring measures to improve
the primary sector.
Measures to prevent Suiciding:
- Reducing the reliance on agriculture on nature. Using effective water management techniques. The government should focus on preventing crop failure.
- Making institutional finance available to every farmer, particularly the poor farmers. Reducing red tape in this regard, effective monitoring to ensure that the poor farmer actually gets the loan and is not a front while the real beneficiary might be a bigger landowner.
- Effective and timely counselling should be given to farmers on economic methods of cultivation.
- Technological advancements in agriculture should be made available to poor farmers as well.
- The government should also try to pool lands of small farmers and convert them into bigger chunks of economically cultivable land.
- Small farmers should be advised on alternate sources of income and given training for the same.
- Provision of relief should enable farmers’ families to sustain a livelihood rather than as just a relief. In certain cases, in Andhra Pradesh, a few farmers committed suicide just so their families could get the relief packages.
There is no single sure-shot
method to reduce the burden on our farmers.
The government, in
consultation with various stakeholders, should come up with effective and
long-term measures to reduce farmer indebtedness, improve crop yield, manage
water resources efficiently and make alternate income sources to farmers.
This issue of farmer
suicides is a burning note and demands immediate attention. The government of
the respective states, along with the central government, have launched various
programs to ensure the farmers.
The farmers should be valued
and should be paid efficiently for their hard work. People should realize the
importance of the matter at hand and work together for its prevention.
Written by – Sakshi Chauhan
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