Maharashtra Crosses 60,000 Farm Suicides

At least ten farmers have killed themselves every day, on average, for a straight ten years in the rich state of Maharashtra. Nation-wide the farm suicides total nears the 300,000-mark, as the data of the National Crime Records Bureau show

"The suicides occurred overwhelmingly amongst cash crop farmers.... The monsoon does have a very real impact on agriculture. ... Against the background of [market-based and climate] factors, you can be sure that if a drought really unfolds this year, they’re in very big trouble. "

In Maharashtra, disaster continues to stare farming in the face

At least 3,146 farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra in 2013, the latest data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show. That brings the total number of farmers taking their own lives in the Western Indian state to 60,750 since 1995. Maharashtra’s record finds no mention in the media. The picture in the state got a lot worse after 2004. On average, 3,685 farmers in the state took their lives every year between 2004-13.

This means Maharashtra, barely three months away from assembly elections, is witnessing, on average, over ten farmers’ suicides every single day these past ten years in a row . That’s a lot worse than its already awful average of seven such deaths a day between 1995-2003. A rise of 42 per cent in fact. (The NCRB began recording farm data in its annual Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India reports in 1995.)

A total of 2,96,438 farmers have committed suicide in India since 1995

Women farmers of Bhamraja village in Yavatmal district, Maharashtra, gather for a meeting in their village with visiting members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture. Committee members found the village to be the opposite of the ‘model’ it had been painted as in media coverage paid for by large seed corporations.

Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s 3,146 figure reflects a decline of 640 farm suicides as compared to the 2012. In fact all the Big 5 states in farm suicides have recorded declines in 2013 relative to the previous year. Andhra Pradesh claims a fall of 558, Chhattisgarh 4, Madhya Pradesh 82 and Karnataka 472.

So are fewer Indian farmers killing themselves today? The latest ADSI report of the NCRB would appear to suggest so. The nation-wide figure has fallen to 11,744 farm suicides, down 1,982 from 13,754 in 2012.

A very welcome decline – until you look at the numbers more closely. With a total of 7,653, the Big 5 still account for a full two-thirds of all farmers’ suicides in the country. No changes in the pattern there. And 15 other states recorded mostly mild increases. Of those, only Haryana records a significant increase of 98.

This great ‘fall’ also perpetuates a growing trend of states with otherwise high farm suicide numbers declaring ‘zero’ or near zero suicides year after year. Chhattisgarh has done this three years in a row now since 2011: it has announced 0, 4 and 0 farmer suicides. West Bengal also records zero in both 2012 and 2013. What if we take a three-year average for these states before they started their zero-sum games? For Chhattisgarh that average was 1,567. For West Bengal 951. That’s a total of 2,518. Add that to the 2013 total and it goes up 14,262. That’s even higher than the 2012 figure (when too, the same fudging was on).

Even accepting the 11,744 figure for 2013, that brings the national total since 1995 to 2,96,438 farmers’ suicides (NCRB ADSI reports 1995-2013) .

Please Visit the Website for Full Text: https://psainath.org/maharashtra-crosses-60000-farm-suicides/

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• Crop Farming
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