NCRB report 2023 indicates one farmer suicide in India every day

According to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, in the category of 'Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India 2023', as many as 10,786 suicides occurred in the agricultural sector in India in 2023. Of these, 4,690 were by farmers and 6,096 by agricultural workers. This translates to an average of 30 suicides every month.

The agricultural sector also accounted for 6.3 per cent of the 1,71,418 suicides in India in 2023. A further break-up shows that of the 4,690 farmers who took their own lives, 4,553 were men and 137 were women. Similarly, of the 6,096 agricultural workers who committed suicide, 5,433 were men and 663 were women.

The current report shows a marginal rise in the number of suicides by agricultural workers from 6,083 in 2022. But there is a fall in the number of suicides by farmers from 5,207 in 2022, a decrease of approximately 10 per cent.

According to the latest report, no suicides were reported from West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura, Chandigarh, Delhi and Lakshadweep.

Maharashtra, on the other hand, recorded the highest number of farmer suicides at 2,518, followed by Karnataka (1,425), Andhra Pradesh (201), Punjab (141), Madhya Pradesh (64), Chhattisgarh (73), Tamil Nadu (67) and Telangana (56).

Shockingly, the Union Territory of Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu witnessed a 50 per cent increase with 15 suicides as against 10 in 2022.

Maharashtra tops the list of suicides by agricultural workers with 1,633 deaths followed by Karnataka (998), Andhra Pradesh (724), Madhya Pradesh (683), Tamil Nadu (564), Chhattisgarh (395) and Uttar Pradesh(321). Of the 32 suicides by agricultural workers in the eight Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir accounted for the highest at 13.

Courtesy: Down to Earth feature service