Why Nobody Cares for Farmers Committing Suicide Since Decades. Farmers suicide a major concern that is been continued from decades. Farmers committing suicide is a topic that is frequently reported in the news today, with 296,438 farmers in India having done so since 1995, according to the national crime records department of India. The ADSI research states that 5,763 farmers or cultivators killed themselves in 2018, and another 5,957 did so in 2019. According to the data, 5,579 farmers or cultivators took their own lives in 2020.
Farmers are dying for a variety of reasons, including being under pressure to repay loans, stress, ignorance of government programmes, lack of farming-related education, depression, and pathy. Other factors include poor irrigation, higher cultivation costs, private money lenders, the use of chemical fertilisers, and crop failure.
Farmer suicides have increased in Maharashtra during the last few years. Comparatively, the number of farmer suicides in the Aurangabad division—which includes the whole Marathwada region of the State—rose from 773 in 2020 to 804 in 2021. The number of suicides in Nagpur division, which includes eastern Vidarbha as well, increased to 309 in 2021 from 269 in 2020.
According to data from the state revenue department, farmers continue to commit suicide because they are unable to repay their loans, despite government loan waiver programmes.
Farmer suicides persist despite the cancellation of agricultural debts by two successive state governments. Farmers continue to commit suicide despite two successive state administrations cancelling agricultural loans; in the first 11 months of 2021, 805 farmer suicides were reported in the eight districts of Marathwada alone.
Continuing, with 805 farmer suicides reported in the first 11 months of 2021 in just the eight Marathwada districts alone. Agriculture in the state has been hampered by droughts, bad pricing strategies, and inadequate water management.
Official statistics show that between January 1, 2022, and mid-August, about 600 farmers in Maharashtra’s Marathwada area committed suicide. Government policies are to blame for the fatalities, according to activists.
According to a news report by Down to Earth, Story of a farmer in Maharashtra: On August 5, 2022, about 10:30 p.m., Ankush Rathod, a resident of Nanded district’s Line Tanda village, committed suicide.
A cotton crop had been grown during monsoon season on my brother-in-4.5 law’s acres of property. His relative Madhukar Jadhav stated that because of the torrential rains, the crop was destroyed, causing him to suffer significant losses.
The 28-year-old went into depression as a result. He regularly mentioned taking his own life since he was unable to afford the costs of growing new seeds. Jadhav reported that Ankush already had a Rs 2 lakh debt on him and was confident he couldn’t return it. He continued by stating how demoralised he was by the rising cost of food owing to inflation and farming expenses.
With no other source of income, Ankush was concerned about providing for his family. Jadhav stated that this is why he took such a drastic action.
Banks where farmers seek for loans also take a long time to disburse the funds, which causes the farmers to have serious problems. During the planting season, farmers need cash on hand. The farmers are therefore forced to choose private loans because banks frequently delay payments owing to drawn-out processes. Farmers frequently experience weather that does not sustain their crops, washing the crop away.
