Supreme Court: Suicides by farmers is a sensitive issue

Supreme Court has asked Union Government, state governments and Reserve Bank of India to find out reasons that force farmers to commit suicides.

New Delhi, Jan 27: The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre, state governments, Union Territories and Reserve Bank of India to examine the likely reasons behind suicides by farmers.

A bench of Chief Justice J.S. Khehar and Justice N.V. Ramana asked them to respond within four weeks. The bench said that it is a "sensitive matter" of larger public interest involving farmers throughout the country.

The government, in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on November 25 last year, had cited a 2014 report of the National Crime Records Bureau and said farmers commit suicide because of debt, crop failure, drought, social-economic and personal reasons.

According to the NCRB's report Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2014, the latest available then, 5,650 farmers have committed suicides in that year. Maharashtra reported the highest such suicides-2568 or nearly half the total-- followed by Telangana with 898 and Madhya Pradesh with 826.

The court was hearing a plea filed by a non-governmental organisation on issues related to farmers.

PTI