One farmer suicide every half an hour in India: MHA

The country is caught up in a fierce public debate on farmers suicides after disclosure that one farmer took his life every half an hour , seven times that of a rape or 12 times of dowry death in the country. The recent report card by the Union Home ministry shows that

1. 46 farmers commit suicide everyday in India. That makes it one farmer suicide in every 32 minutes .
2. 296,438 farmers committed suicide between 1995 and 2013
3. 18,241 farmers killed themselves in 2004 – highest till date
4. 26 percent increase in farmers’ suicide in 2014 over previous year

But as is the normal practice of all analysts ad statisticians the number of those who don’t get into official statistics is always much higher. Experts believe the already alarming situation in the agrarian sector could get worse if the government bulldozes its way to pass its land bill which has removed all buffers and fire walls provided in the UPA II’s land Act.

There’s 52.5 percent agricultural land and the rest is barren land. The government should make land bank out of hectares of barren land available in every state , say campaigners against land bill who do not want the government to take away the fertile land of farmers as in case of the CRDA lands in Guntur district . The farmers’ bodies are of the opinion that if the amended form of the bill gets passed and implemented, the cases of farmers committing suicide would increase manifold.