More than 12,000 farmer suicides per year, Govt tells SC

Maharashtra reported the highest suicides, followed by Karnataka

As concerns over the burden on the countries farmers continue to grow and they take to the streets to air their grievances, the union government has told the top court of the country that over 12,000 suicides by farmers have been reported every year since 2013.

The latest visible protest to convey the tough conditions that exist in the farming sector came in the form of farmers from Tamil Nadu protesting in New Delhi. The forms of protest included extreme steps like drinking their own urine etc., following the refusal of those in power to come hear their concerns and demands.

And the numbers presented by the government to the Supreme Court show that the conditions are not improving as the number of suicides have kept crossing the 12,000 mark.

According to the government, a total of 12,602 persons involved in farming sector- 8,007 farmers-cultivators and 4,595 agricultural labourers- committed suicide during 2015, accounting for 9.4% of total 133,623 suicide victims in the country.

Karnataka came in second with 1,569 suicides, while Maharashtra topped the list with 4,291. Telangana (1,400), Madhya Pradesh (1,290), Chhattisgarh (954), Andhra Pradesh (916) and Tamil Nadu (606) make up the list of seven states, which accounted for 87.5 per cent of total suicides in the farming sector throughout the country in 2015.

Whereas in 2014, 12,360 of those in the farming sector, out of which 5,650 were farmers and 6,710 agricultural labourers, committed suicide. This accounted for 9.4 per cent of the total 131,666 suicides in the country. And in 2013, there were 11,772 suicides in the sector, which were 8.7 per cent of the 134,799 total suicides in the country, according to the government.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar, heard the steps the government is taking to improve the conditions of those in the farming sector and the view by petitioner NGO, Citizen Resources and Action Initiative.

At the end, the bench said that, "Today, we find it hard to intervene in the case. All the steps that need to be taken is squarely in the executive's domain, what should be the minimum support price for agricultural produce as well as crop insurance."

While the government conveyed that the Niti Aayog had been requested by it to forth a strategy to look into the issue of farmer suicides. The bench said, "You (the Centre) are giving everything to Niti Aayog. How much can it handle?"

Additional solicitor general P S Narasimha is reported to have said, "The government is addressing the low income of farmers. Agrarian distress is manifest from a large number of farmers living below the poverty line and unfortunate incidents of suicides can be addressed by enabling farmers to increase their income. With this understanding, the government is aiming to double farmers' income by the year 2022,"

The bench also gave the government four weeks to respond to the data submitted by the NGO's counsel who had argued that the PM Fasal Bima Yojana had not reached even a fifth of the country's small and marginal farmers, as thousands of crores of rupees was parked with the private insurance companies. He also requested the court to direct the Centre to subsidise agricultural work.

OneIndia News