Lok Sabha Question No. 231 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-15
Subject: Suicide by Farmers due to Debt
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Prataprao  Jadhav

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, COOPERATION AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 231

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 15 TH  SEPTEMBER, 2020

## SUICIDE BY FARMERS DUE TO DEBT

231.     SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी be pleased to state:

(a) whether it is a fact that the farmers are taking inhuman steps like suicide due to their inability in paying their loan amount;

(b) whether the Government proposes to take any step to write off the bank loan of the families of the farmers who commit suicide due to financial crunch;

- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)      if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

(a)  to  (d):        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 2019 are available on its website. The state-wise data on suicide committed by farmers due indebtedness  and  bankruptcy  during  2014  and  2015  is  at Annexure-I .  However,  the data  on  suicide  committed  by  farmers  due  to  indebtedness  and  bankruptcy  is  not available from the year 2016 onward.

There  is  no  proposal  on  waiver  of  crop  loans  under  consideration  of  the Government of India.

Further, agriculture being a State subject, the State Governments take appropriate measures for development of agriculture in the State. However, Government of  India  supplements  the  efforts  of  States  through  appropriate  policy  measures  and budgetary  support.  The  Government  of  India  supplements  the  efforts  of  the  State Governments through various schemes/ programmes. The various schemes/ programmes  of  the  Government  of  India  are  meant  for  the  welfare  of  farmers  by increasing  production,  remunerative  returns  and  income  support  to  farmers.  A  list  of various initiatives taken  by the Government are at Annexure-II. All  these  steps  of  the Government of India are for the welfare of the farmers of the country.

Annexure-I State-wise  and  year-wise  details  of  Farmers  suicide  due  to  indebtedness  and

bankruptcy, for the year 2014 and 2015

|    | State/UT          |   2014 |   2015 |
|----|-------------------|--------|--------|
| 1  | ANDHRA PRADESH    |     36 |    154 |
| 2  | ARUNACHAL PRADESH |      0 |      0 |
| 3  | ASSAM             |      0 |      0 |
| 4  | BIHAR             |      0 |      0 |
| 5  | CHHATTISGARH      |      0 |      3 |
| 6  | GOA               |      0 |      0 |
| 7  | GUJARAT           |      0 |      0 |
| 8  | HARYANA           |      0 |      0 |
| 9  | HIMACHAL PRADESH  |      1 |      0 |
| 10 | JAMMU & KASHMIR   |      0 |      0 |
| 11 | JHARKHAND         |      0 |      0 |
| 12 | KARNATAKA         |     51 |    946 |
| 13 | KERALA            |      5 |      1 |
| 14 | MADHYA PRADESH    |      1 |     13 |
| 15 | MAHARASHTRA       |    857 |   1293 |
| 16 | MANIPUR           |      0 |      0 |
| 17 | MEGHALAYA         |      0 |      0 |
| 18 | MIZORAM           |      0 |      0 |
| 19 | NAGALAND          |      0 |      0 |
| 20 | ODISHA            |      1 |      2 |
| 21 | PUNJAB            |      3 |     51 |
| 22 | RAJASTHAN         |      0 |      0 |
| 23 | SIKKIM            |      0 |      0 |
| 24 | TAMIL NADU        |      0 |      0 |
| 25 | TELANGANA         |    208 |    632 |
| 26 | TRIPURA           |      0 |      0 |
| 27 | UTTAR PRADESH     |      0 |      2 |
| 28 | UTTARAKHAND       |      0 |      0 |
| 29 | WEST BENGAL       |      0 |      0 |
| 30 | A & N ISLANDS     |      0 |      0 |
| 31 | CHANDIGARH        |      0 |      0 |
| 32 | D & N HAVELI      |      0 |      0 |
| 33 | DAMAN & DIU       |      0 |      0 |
| 34 | DELHI (UT)        |      0 |      0 |
| 35 | LAKSHADWEEP       |      0 |      0 |
| 36 | PUDUCHERRY        |      0 |      0 |
|    | TOTAL (ALL INDIA) |   1163 |   3097 |

Source: Report on 'Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India' for relevant years, National Crime Records Bureau.

## List of various interventions and schemes launched for the benefit of farmers.

(i)  With  a  view  to  provide  income  support  to  all  farmers'  families  across  the  country,  to enable them to take care of expenses related to agriculture and allied activities as well as domestic needs, the Central Government started a new Central Sector Scheme, namely, the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN). The scheme aims to provide a payment of Rs. 6000/- per year, in three 4-monthly installments of Rs. 2000/- to the farmers families, subject to certain exclusions relating to higher income groups.

(ii) Further with a view to provide social security net for Small and Marginal Farmers (SMF) as they have minimal or no savings to provide for old age and to support them in the event of  consequent  loss  of  livelihood,  the  Government  has  decided  to  implement  another  new Central  Sector  Scheme  i.e.  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Maan  Dhan  Yojana  (PM-KMY)  for providing old age pension to these farmers. Under this Scheme, a minimum fixed pension of Rs.  3000/-  will  be  provided  to  the  eligible  small  and  marginal  farmers,  subject  to  certain exclusion clauses, on attaining the age of 60 years.

(iii)  With  a  view  to  provide  better  insurance  coverage  to  crops  for  risk  mitigation,  a  crop insurance scheme namely Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) was launched from Kharif 2016 season. This scheme provides insurance cover for all stages of the crop cycle including post-harvest risks in specified instances, with low premium contribution by farmers.

(iv)  Giving  a  major  boost  for  the  farmer's  income,  the  Government  has  approved  the increase  in  the  Minimum  Support  Price  (MSPs)  for  all  Kharif&  Rabi  crops  for  2018-19 season at a level of at least 150 percent of the cost of production.

(v) Implementation of flagship scheme of distribution of Soil Health Cards to farmers so that the use of fertilizers can be rationalized.

(vi) 'Per drop more crop' initiative under which drip/sprinkler irrigation is being encouraged for optimal utilization of water, reducing cost of inputs and increasing productivity.

(vii) 'Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY)' for promoting organic farming.

(viii) Launch of e-NAM initiative to provide farmers an electronic transparent and competitive online trading platform.

(ix) Under 'HarMedh Par Ped', agro forestry is being promoted for additional income.  With the amendment of Indian Forest Act, 1927, Bamboo has been removed from the definition of trees.  A  restructured  National  Bamboo  Mission  has  been  launched  in  the  year  2018  to promote bamboo plantation on non forest government as well as private land and emphasis on value addition, product development and  markets.

(x) Giving a major boost to the pro-farmer initiatives, the Government has approved a new Umbrella Scheme 'Pradhan Mantri Annadata Aay Sanrakshan Abhiyan (PMAASHA)'.  The Scheme  is  aimed  at  ensuring  remunerative  prices  to  the  farmers  for  their  produce  as announced in the Union Budget for 2018. This is an unprecedented step taken by Govt. of India to protect the farmers' income which is expected to go a long way towards the welfare of farmers.

(xi)  Bee  keeping  has  been  promoted  under  Mission  for  Integrated  Development  of Horticulture (MIDH) to increase the productivity of crops through pollination and increase the honey production as an additional source of income of farmers.

(xii) To ensure flow of adequate credit, Government sets annual target for the flow of credit to the agriculture sector, Banks have been consistently surpassing the annual target. The agriculture credit flow target has been set at Rs. 13.50 lakh crore for the F.Y.2019-20 and Rs.15.00 lakh crore for F.Y. 2020-21.

(xiii) Extending the reach of institutional credit to more and more farmers is priority area of the Government and to achieve this goal, the Government provides interest subvention of 2% on short-term crop loans up to Rs.3.00 lakh. Presently, loan is available to farmers at an interest rate of 4% per annum on prompt repayment.

(xiv)  Further,  under Interest Subvention Scheme 2018-19, in order to provide relief to the farmers on occurrence of natural calamities, the interest subvention of 2% shall continue to be available to banks for the first year on the restructured amount. In order to discourage distress  sale  by  farmers  and  to  encourage  them  to  store  their  produce  in  warehouses against negotiable receipts, the benefit of interest subvention will be available to small and marginal  farmers  having  Kisan  Credit  Card  for  a  further  period  of  upto  six  months  post harvest on the same rate as available to crop loan.

(xv) The Government has extended the facility of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to the farmers practicing animal husbandry and fisheries related activities.  All processing fee, inspection, ledger folio charges and all other services charges have been waived off for fresh renewal of KCC. Collateral fee loan limit for short term agri-credit has been raised from Rs.1.00 lakh to Rs.1.60 lakh.  KCC will be issued within 14 days from the receipt of completed application.

(xvi) Several market reforms have been rolled out. These include

- a.  Model APLMC (Promotion & Facilitation) Act, 2017
- b.  Establishment of 22,000 number  of Gramin  Agriculture Markets (GrAMs)  as aggregation platforms
- c. Agri-Export Policy, that targets to double agri-exports by 2022
- d.  The  Farmers  Produce  Trade  and  Commerce  (Promotion  &  Facilitation)  Ordinance, 2020
- e.  The Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020
- f. Amendments  to  Essential  Commodities  Act,  1955,  that  deregulates  various  agricommodities
- g.  Promotion of 10,000 FPOs by 2024

(xvii) Creation of Corpus Funds

- a.  Micro Irrigation Fund - Rs. 5,000 crores
- b.  Agri-marketing Fund to strengthen eNAM and GrAMs - Rs. 2,000 crores
- c. Agricultural  Infrastructure  Fund  (AIF)  to  build  agri-logistics  (backward  &  forward linkages) - Rs. 100,000 crores

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