Lok Sabha Question No. 405 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-07-18
Subject: Suicide by Farmers
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, P. KARUNAKARAN, KIRTI (JHA) AZAD, ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT, SUDHEER GUPTA, RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD, ASHWINI KUMAR, N.K. PREMACHANDRAN, KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, RAMACHANDRAN MULLAPPALLY, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, B.V. NAYAK, ANTO  ANTONY, SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH, VIJAY KUMAR S.R., T. RADHAKRISHNAN, MD. BADARIDDOZA KHAN, JITENDRA CHAUDHURY, BHAVANA GAWALI (PATIL), M. B. RAJESH, PARAYAMPARANBIL KUTTAPPAN BIJU, (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE, REKHA ARUN VERMA, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, RAJAN BABURAO  VICHARE, NAGARAJAN P., P.R. SUNDARAM, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, GOPALAKRISHNAN CHINNARAJ, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, GOPAL CHINAYYA SHETTY, T.G. VENKATESH BABU, SHIVKUMAR CHANABASAPPA UDASI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.405

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE  18 TH  JULY, 2017

## SUICIDE BY FARMERS

405.   SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR: SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK: SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN: SHRI P. KARUNAKARAN: SHRI KIRTI AZAD: SHRI ARVIND SAWANT: SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA: PROF. RAVINDRA VISHWANATH GAIKWAD: SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR: SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN: SHRI KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL: SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO: SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO: KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH: SHRI B.V. NAIK: SHRI ANTO ANTONY: SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH: SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR: SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN: SHRI MD. BADARUDDOZA KHAN: SHRI JITENDRA CHAUDHURY: SHRIMATI BHAVANA PUNDALIKRAO GAWALI PATIL: SHRI M.B. RAJESH: SHRI P.K. BIJU: ADV. JOICE GEORGE: SHRIMATI REKHA VERMA: SHRI SATAV RAJEEV: SHRI RAJAN VICHARE: SHRI P. NAGARAJAN: SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM: DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT: DR. C. GOPALAKRISHNAN: DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN: SHRI GOPAL SHETTY: SHRI VENKATESH BABU T.G.: SHRI SHIVKUMAR UDASI:

Will  the  Minister  of  AGRICULTURE  AND  FARMERS  WELFARE      ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं  कसान कयाण ½ãâ¨ããè be pleased to state:

(a) whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  farmers  are  committing  suicide  in various parts of the country and if so, the details thereof during each of the last three years and the current year along with the major reasons for the same, State-wise;

(b) whether the Government has conducted any study to ascertain the reasons for growing number of farmers suicides in the country, if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government has prepared any specific plan/policy to prevent suicide by the farmers in the country and if so, the details thereof;

(d) whether the present policy for tackling the suicide cases of farmers is ineffective and if so, the response of the Government thereto including the steps taken to prevent suicides by farmers by creating conditions favourable for farmers;

(e) whether debt  burden  on  each  farmer  is  more  than  that  of  average  annual  per capita income in the country and if so, the details thereof; and

(f) the  steps  taken/being  taken  by  the  Government  to  remove  indebtedness  and provide adequate remunerative prices for farm produce to farmers?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF  STATE IN THE  MINISTRY OF  AGRICULTURE AND  FARMERS  WELFARE

## ‡ãðŠãäÓã एवं  कसान  कयाण ½ãâ¨ããÊã¾ã  ½ãñâ  Àã·¾ã  ½ãâ¨ããè (  SHRI PARSHOTTAM RUPALA)

(a): The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs compiles and disseminates information on suicides, in its publication titled 'Accidental Deaths  and  Suicides  in  India'  (ADSI).  These  Reports  on  suicides  upto  2015  are available at its website. The Report for the year 2016 has not been published yet. The State wise details of suicides in farming/ agriculture sector during the years 2014 and 2015  as  per  NCRB  Report  may  be  seen  at  Annexure-I.  Further,  as  per  this  Report, 'Bankruptcy  or  Indebtedness'  and  'Farming  Related  Issues'  are  reported  as  major causes of suicides among farmers/ cultivators. Other prominent causes of farmers/cultivators suicides are family problems, illness etc.

(b): Yes.  A  study  titled  'Farmer  Suicides:  An  all  India  Study'  has  been  conducted during 2016-17 by the Government to ascertain various reasons for the growing number of  farmers  suicide  in  the  country.  This  Pan-India  study  was  carried  out  in  13  major suicide  prone  states  namely:  Uttar  Pradesh,  Tamil  Nadu,  Kerala,  Haryana,  Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Gujarat, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka. The study was assigned to Agriculture Research Unit, ISEC Bangalore  and  was  completed  with  the  association  of  the  Agro-Economic  Research Centres. The reference year of the study was decided as the agriculture year 2015-16 (June, 2015 - May, 2016). The main objectives of the study were as follows:

1.  To analyze the incidence and spread of farmers suicides in selected states and to map the hotspots of suicide.
2.  To study the socio-economic profile, cropping pattern and profitability in the victim's households.
3.    To study the causes leading to suicides.
4.    To recommend suitable policies to avert farmer suicides.

(c) & (d): Agrarian distress  as  manifest from large number of  farmers living below the  poverty  (BPL)  line  and  unfortunate  incidents  of  suicides  can  be  addressed  by enabling the farmers to increase their income. With this understanding, the Government  is  targeting  to  double  the  income  of  the  farmers  by  the  year  2022.    To achieve  this,  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  Cooperation  and  Farmers'  Welfare  has constituted  an  Inter-Ministerial  Committee  to  examine  various  dimensions  of  farmers' income and to recommend an appropriate strategy.  In the meanwhile, the Government is realigning its interventions to move from production-centric to farmers' income-centric platform.  The Department has, therefore, been implementing various schemes to meet this objective viz. Soil Health Card (SHC) scheme, Neem Coated Urea, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY), Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY), National Agriculture  Market  Scheme  (e-NAM),  Pradhan  Mantri  Fasal  Bima  Yojana  (PMFBY), Interest Subvention Scheme etc.

(e): The State/UT-wise details of estimates of outstanding loan and average monthly income  per  farmer  household  during  the  agricultural  year  July  2012-  June  2013  as reported  in  the  Situation  Assessment  Survey  of  Farmers  conducted  during  January 2013- December 2013 may be seen at Annexure-II.

(f): Government  has  taken  several  steps  to  remove  indebtedness  and  to  provide adequate remunerative  prices  for  farm  produce  to  farmers,  through  increased  MSPs, higher  level  of  procurement  &  e-NAM.    Measures  taken  by  Government  to  minimise indebtedness from non-institutional sources of lending include fixation of annual targets for improving agricultural credit flow, provision of crop loans upto Rs.3.00 lakh @4% per annum to such farmers who repay their loan as per the repayment schedule fixed by the banks, extension of benefit of interest subvention scheme to small & marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a further period upto six months for storing their produce in warehouses against  negotiable  warehouse  receipts,  collateral  free  loan  upto  Rs.1.00 lakh, scheme for financing of Joint Liability Group (JLGs) etc.

## Annexure-I

## Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 405  due for 18.07.2017 Statement in respect  of Part (a) of the

## Question  regarding 'Suicide by Farmers'

|                   | 2014    | 2014      | 2014   | 2015    | 2015      | 2015   |
|-------------------|---------|-----------|--------|---------|-----------|--------|
| State/UT          | Farmers | Labourers | Total  | Farmers | Labourers | Total  |
| ANDHRA PRADESH    | 160     | 472       | 632    | 516     | 400       | 916    |
| ARUNACHAL PRADESH | 0       | 3         | 3      | 7       | 3         | 10     |
| ASSAM             | 21      | 38        | 59     | 84      | 54        | 138    |
| BIHAR             | 0       | 10        | 10     | 0       | 7         | 7      |
| CHHATTISGARH      | 443     | 312       | 755    | 854     | 100       | 954    |
| GOA               | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| GUJARAT           | 45      | 555       | 600    | 57      | 244       | 301    |
| HARYANA           | 14      | 105       | 119    | 28      | 134       | 162    |
| HIMACHAL PRADESH  | 32      | 31        | 63     | 0       | 46        | 46     |
| JAMMU & KASHMIR   | 12      | 25        | 37     | 0       | 21        | 21     |
| JHARKHAND         | 0       | 4         | 4      | 0       | 21        | 21     |
| KARNATAKA         | 321     | 447       | 768    | 1197    | 372       | 1569   |
| KERALA            | 107     | 700       | 807    | 3       | 207       | 210    |
| MADHYA PRADESH    | 826     | 372       | 1198   | 581     | 709       | 1290   |
| MAHARASHTRA       | 2568    | 1436      | 4004   | 3030    | 1261      | 4291   |
| MANIPUR           | 0       | 0         | 0      | 1       | 0         | 1      |
| MEGHALAYA         | 0       | 2         | 2      | 2       | 1         | 3      |
| MIZORAM           | 0       | 5         | 5      | 0       | 1         | 1      |
| NAGALAND          | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| ODISHA            | 5       | 97        | 102    | 23      | 27        | 50     |
| PUNJAB            | 24      | 40        | 64     | 100     | 24        | 124    |
| RAJASTHAN         | 0       | 373       | 373    | 3       | 73        | 76     |
| SIKKIM            | 35      | 0         | 35     | 15      | 3         | 18     |
| TAMIL NADU        | 68      | 827       | 895    | 2       | 604       | 606    |
| TELANGANA         | 898     | 449       | 1347   | 1358    | 42        | 1400   |
| TRIPURA           | 0       | 32        | 32     | 1       | 48        | 49     |
| UTTAR PRADESH     | 63      | 129       | 192    | 145     | 179       | 324    |
| UTTARAKHAND       | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 2         | 2      |
| WEST BENGAL       | 0       | 230       | 230    | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| TOTAL (STATES)    | 5642    | 6694      | 12336  | 8007    | 4583      | 12590  |
| A & N ISLANDS     | 8       | 0         | 8      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| CHANDIGARH        | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| D & N HAVELI      | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| DAMAN & DIU       | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| DELHI (UT)        | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| LAKSHADWEEP       | 0       | 0         | 0      | 0       | 0         | 0      |
| PUDUCHERRY        | 0       | 16        | 16     | 0       | 12        | 12     |
| TOTAL (UTs)       | 8       | 16        | 24     | 0       | 12        | 12     |

Source : Report on 'Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India' for relevant years, National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs

Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 405  due for 18.07.2017 Statement in respect  of Part (e) of the Question  regarding Average Monthly Income and average amount of outstanding loan per Agricultural Household during the agricultural year July 2012- June 2013

| State #           | Estmated number. of household having outstanding loan   | Average monthly income* per agri. Household during July 2012- June 2013 (Rs)   | Approximate average amount of outstanding loan** per agricultural household (Rs)   |
|-------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| (1)               | (2)                                                     | (3)                                                                            | (4)                                                                                |
| Andhra Pradesh    | 33421                                                   | 5979                                                                           | 123400                                                                             |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 206                                                     | 10869                                                                          | 5400                                                                               |
| Assam             | 5995                                                    | 6695                                                                           | 3400                                                                               |
| Bihar             | 30156                                                   | 3558                                                                           | 16300                                                                              |
| Chhattisgarh      | 9538                                                    | 5177                                                                           | 10200                                                                              |
| Gujarat           | 16743                                                   | 7926                                                                           | 38100                                                                              |
| Haryana           | 6645                                                    | 14434                                                                          | 79000                                                                              |
| Himachal Pradesh  | 2457                                                    | 8777                                                                           | 28000                                                                              |
| Jammu &Kashmir    | 3463                                                    | 12683                                                                          | 12200                                                                              |
| Jharkhand         | 6464                                                    | 4721                                                                           | 5700                                                                               |
| Karnataka         | 32775                                                   | 8832                                                                           | 97200                                                                              |
| Kerala            | 10908                                                   | 11888                                                                          | 213600                                                                             |
| Madhya Pradesh    | 27414                                                   | 6210                                                                           | 32100                                                                              |
| Maharashtra       | 40672                                                   | 7386                                                                           | 54700                                                                              |
| Manipur           | 421                                                     | 8842                                                                           | 6100                                                                               |
| Meghalaya         | 84                                                      | 11792                                                                          | 1400                                                                               |
| Mizoram           | 47                                                      | 9099                                                                           | 2900                                                                               |
| Nagaland          | 65                                                      | 10048                                                                          | 600                                                                                |
| Odisha            | 25830                                                   | 4976                                                                           | 28200                                                                              |
| Punjab            | 7499                                                    | 18059                                                                          | 119500                                                                             |
| Rajasthan         | 40055                                                   | 7350                                                                           | 70500                                                                              |
| Sikkim            | 97                                                      | 6798                                                                           | 9900                                                                               |
| Tamil Nadu        | 26780                                                   | 6980                                                                           | 115900                                                                             |
| Telangana         | 22628                                                   | 6311                                                                           | 93500                                                                              |
| Tripura           | 559                                                     | 5429                                                                           | 5000                                                                               |
| Uttarakhand       | 5387                                                    | 4701                                                                           | 35600                                                                              |
| Uttar Pradesh     | 79081                                                   | 4923                                                                           | 27300                                                                              |
| West Bengal       | 32787                                                   | 3980                                                                           | 17800                                                                              |
| Group of UTs      | 267                                                     | 8568                                                                           | 47700                                                                              |
| all-India         | 468481                                                  | 6426                                                                           | 47000                                                                              |

#Figures for remaining States are not published due to inadequate sample size (i.e. number of sample households less than 300).

* The income includes income from salary/wages, net receipt from cultivation, net receipt from farming of animals and net receipt from non-farm business.

** Outstanding loans as on date of survey irrespective of the purpose for which loans were taken.

(Source:  Key  Indicators  of  Situation  of  Agricultural  Households  in  India  based  on Situation  Assessment  Survey  of  Agricultural  Households,  NSS  70 th round  (January  2013December 2013))

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