Maharashtra, Karnataka report most number of farmer suicides

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has said in its report that 10,786 farmers and agricultural workers committed suicide in 2023, and the most number of them were from Maharashtra (38.5%), followed by Karnataka (22.5%). The organisations of farmers blamed the Narendra Modi government’s policies for the situation, and said the decision to waive off import duty on cotton would vitiate the situation as most of the suicides were still from the cotton belts of the country. 

Of the 10,786 suicides from the farming sector, 4,690 were farmers or cultivators, and 6,096 were agricultural workers. The farm suicides accounted for 6.3% of total suicides (1,71,418 suicides in 2023) in the country. Out of the 4,690 farmers who committed suicide, 4,553 were male and 137 were female, and out of the 6,096 suicides by farm workers, 5,433 were male and 663 were female.

After Maharashtra and Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh (8.6%), Madhya Pradesh (7.2%), and Tamil Nadu (5.9%) registered the most number of suicides. West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Lakshadweep reported no suicides from the farm belt.

Commenting on the NCRB data, president of the All India Kisan Sabha Ashok Dhawale said more than 10,000 suicides had been reported from the farm sector in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it showed the systemic crisis that the Narendra Modi government could not grasp or combat.

“This crisis is going to aggravate as a large number of farmer suicides take place in the cotton and soybean belt. Maharashtra has turned out to be the graveyard of farmers. The Marathwada and Vidarbha region are cotton and soybean belts. In spite of this, the Union government is bowing to the pressure to sign Free Trade Agreements, and to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff terrorism. The government cancelled the 11% import duty on cotton. This means that American cotton is going to come here. Agriculture will be finished by these treaties. Dairy, edible oil sectors will be affected,” Dr. Dhawale said, adding that the NCRB data could not be trusted.

“We had raised this concern earlier as well. For example, West Bengal has reported no farmer suicides, which is not true. The number suicides will be much higher,” Dr. Dhawale said.

The Modi government had learnt nothing from the farmer suicides, and the data made no difference to them, he said. “They are wedded to foreign and local corporates,” Dr. Dhawale said. 

Those who require assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts may contact Fortis Mental Health 24X7 helpline 8376804102.