Lok Sabha Question No. 2237 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-20
Subject: Suicide by Daily Wagers
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Mohammad Jawed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2237

TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  THE  20 TH   DECEMBER,  2022/AGRAHAYANA  29,  1944 (SAKA)

SUICIDE BY DAILY WAGERS

2237.  DR. MOHAMMAD JAWED:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  whether  it  is  a  fact  that  suicide  cases  of  daily  wagers  has  steadily increased in the country since 2014;

(b)  if  so,  the  number  of  such cases of daily wagers reported in the country during the last five years, State-wise;

(c)  whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  daily  wage  earners  were  the largest profession-wise group among suicide victims in 2021; and

(d)  the  steps  are  taken  by  the  Government  to  prevent  suicides  by  daily wagers?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a)  to  (c):  National  Crime  Records  Bureau  (NCRB)  compiles  and  publishes data  on  suicides  in  its  publication  'Accidental  Deaths  &  Suicides  in  India (ADSI)'. The published reports are available till the year 2021. As per  NCRB data,  State/UT-wise  number  of  suicides  committed  by  daily  wage  earners during 2014-2021 is given at Annexure-I. Profession-wise number of Suicides committed by people in the country during 2021 is given at Annexure-II.

(d):  In  order  to  provide  social  security  benefits  to  the  workers  in  the unorganized  sector  including  workers in agriculture sector, the Government

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 2237 FOR 20.12.2022

has  enacted  the  Unorganized  Workers'  Social  Security  Act,  2008.  This  Act stipulates formulation of suitable welfare schemes for unorganized workers on matters relating to: (i) life and disability cover, (ii) health and maternity benefits,  (iii)  old  age  protection  and  (iv)  any  other  benefit  as  may  be determined by the Central Government. Life and disability cover is provided through  Pradhan  Mantri  Jeevan  Jyoti  BimaYojana  (PMJJBY)  and  Pradhan Mantri Suraksha BimaYojana (PMSBY) to the unorganized workers depending upon  their  eligibility.  The  health  and  maternity  benefits  are  addressed through  Ayushman  Bharat  scheme.  For  old  age  protection  in  the  form  of minimum  assured  monthly  pension,  Government  of  India  has  recently launched  Pradhan  Mantri  Shram  Yogi  Maandhan  (PM-SYM).  Under  the scheme, which is on contributory basis, minimum assured monthly pension of Rs. 3000/- will be provided to the unorganized workers after attaining the age of 60 years.

*******

## State/UT wise Number of Suicides committed by Daily Wage Earners during 2014-2021 as per NCRB data

| SN                | State/UT                   | 2014   | 2015   | 2016   | 2017   | 2018   | 2019   |   2020 |   2021 |
|-------------------|----------------------------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| 1                 | Andhra Pradesh             | 1033   | 1202   | 1333   | 1397   | 1510   | 2167   |   2501 |   3014 |
| 2                 | Arunachal Pradesh          | 17     | 7      | 3      | 7      | 8      | 18     |     13 |     23 |
| 3                 | Assam                      | 69     | 239    | 447    | 206    | 235    | 279    |    789 |    659 |
| 4                 | Bihar                      | 11     | 10     | 9      | 13     | 8      | 76     |     69 |     29 |
| 5                 | Chhattisgarh               | 641    | 1030   | 1119   | 1292   | 1140   | 1679   |   1964 |   2040 |
| 6                 | Goa                        | 30     | 38     | 29     | 37     | 27     | 30     |     39 |     33 |
| 7                 | Gujarat                    | 669    | 2038   | 1939   | 2131   | 2522   | 2649   |   2754 |   3206 |
| 8                 | Haryana                    | 223    | 246    | 157    | 475    | 413    | 409    |    721 |    535 |
| 9                 | Himachal Pradesh           | 2      | 26     | 14     | 23     | 80     | 57     |    142 |    125 |
| 10                | Jharkhand                  | 27     | 179    | 150    | 79     | 66     | 92     |    134 |    156 |
| 11                | Karnataka                  | 800    | 1318   | 1499   | 1715   | 1542   | 1631   |   2373 |   2313 |
| 12                | Kerala                     | 1795   | 2063   | 2235   | 2643   | 2544   | 2809   |   2496 |   3345 |
| 13                | Madhya Pradesh             | 1248   | 1942   | 2170   | 3039   | 3521   | 3964   |   4945 |   4657 |
| 14                | Maharashtra                | 2239   | 2920   | 3168   | 3669   | 3946   | 4128   |   4176 |   5270 |
| 15                | Manipur                    | 0      | 3      | 3      | 1      | 2      | 1      |      2 |      5 |
| 16                | Meghalaya                  | 23     | 21     | 33     | 36     | 39     | 55     |     66 |     77 |
| 17                | Mizoram                    | 13     | 23     | 28     | 25     | 31     | 12     |      0 |     37 |
| 18                | Nagaland                   | 0      | 1      | 5      | 7      | 7      | 4      |      3 |      2 |
| 19                | Odisha                     | 205    | 291    | 387    | 248    | 363    | 346    |    274 |    320 |
| 20                | Punjab                     | 90     | 191    | 283    | 339    | 348    | 585    |    749 |    864 |
| 21                | Rajasthan                  | 527    | 452    | 634    | 669    | 769    | 1062   |   1128 |   1256 |
| 22                | Sikkim                     | 23     | 14     | 34     | 19     | 34     | 31     |     12 |     22 |
| 23                | Tamil Nadu                 | 3880   | 4943   | 4888   | 5624   | 5565   | 5186   |   6495 |   7673 |
| 24                | Telangana                  | 1242   | 3448   | 2824   | 2507   | 2905   | 2858   |   3831 |   4223 |
| 25                | Tripura                    | 45     | 126    | 168    | 229    | 286    | 218    |    338 |    351 |
| 26                | Uttar Pradesh              | 208    | 290    | 447    | 490    | 525    | 859    |    245 |    482 |
| 27                | Uttarakhand                | 2      | 3      | 19     | 4      | 9      | 44     |    119 |     30 |
| 28                | West Bengal                | 438    | 469    | 826    | 1438   | 1385   | 1002   |    895 |    925 |
| TOTAL             | STATE(S)                   | 15500  | 23533  | 24851  | 28362  | 29830  | 32251  |  37273 |  41672 |
| 29 A&NIslands     | 29 A&NIslands              | 5      | 21     | 5      | 1      | 5      | 9      |      9 |     18 |
| 30                | Chandigarh                 | 4      | 14     | 13     | 7      | 4      | 7      |      2 |     16 |
| 31                | D&N Haveli and Daman&Diu@+ | 0      | 33     | 17     | 4      | 17     | 14     |     24 |      8 |
| 32                | Delhi UT                   | 104    | 101    | 161    | 236    | 237    | 247    |    294 |    233 |
| 33                | Jammu& Kashmir@*           | 0      | 3      | 4      | 21     | 1      | 0      |     31 |      9 |
| 34                | Ladakh@                    | -      | -      | -      | -      | -      | -      |      0 |      0 |
| 35                | Lakshadweep                | 0      | 0      | 1      | 0      | 0      | 0      |      0 |      0 |
| 36                | Puducherry                 | 122    | 94     | 112    | 110    | 33     | 35     |     33 |     48 |
| TOTAL UT(S)       | TOTAL UT(S)                | 235    | 266    | 313    | 379    | 297    | 312    |    393 |    332 |
| TOTAL (ALL INDIA) | TOTAL (ALL INDIA)          | 15735  | 23799  | 25164  | 28741  | 30127  | 32563  |  37666 |  42004 |

## Profession-wise Number of Suicides committed by people in the country during 2021 as per NCRB data

| SN    | Profession                                                                                                                                        |   Total |
|-------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|
| 1     | Housewife                                                                                                                                         |   23179 |
| 2     | Professional/Salaried Persons (Total)                                                                                                             |   15870 |
| 2.1   | Govt. Servants (Total)                                                                                                                            |    1898 |
| 2.1.1 | Central/UT Govt. Servants                                                                                                                         |     381 |
| 2.1.2 | State Govt. Servants                                                                                                                              |    1131 |
| 2.1.3 | Other Statutory Body/etc.                                                                                                                         |     386 |
| 2.2   | Private Sector Enterprises                                                                                                                        |   11431 |
| 2.3   | Public Sector Undertaking                                                                                                                         |    2541 |
| 3     | Students                                                                                                                                          |   13089 |
| 4     | Unemployed Persons                                                                                                                                |   13714 |
| 5     | Self-employed Persons (Total)                                                                                                                     |   20231 |
| 5.1   | Business (Total)                                                                                                                                  |   12055 |
| 5.1.1 | Vendor                                                                                                                                            |    4532 |
| 5.1.2 | Tradesmen                                                                                                                                         |    3633 |
| 5.1.3 | Others                                                                                                                                            |    3890 |
| 5.2   | Other Self-employed Persons                                                                                                                       |    8176 |
| 6     | Persons engaged in Farming Sector (Total)                                                                                                         |   10881 |
| 6.1   | Farmers/Cultivators (Sub-Total)                                                                                                                   |    5318 |
| 6.1.1 | who cultivate their own land with or without assistance of agricultural labourers                                                                 |    4806 |
| 6.1.2 | who cultivate on lease land/work on lease/on other''s land (known by different nomenclature) with or without assistance of agricultural labourers |     512 |
| 6.2   | Agricultural Labourers                                                                                                                            |    5563 |
| 7     | Daily Wage Earner                                                                                                                                 |   42004 |
| 8     | Retired Persons                                                                                                                                   |    1518 |
| 9     | Other Persons                                                                                                                                     |   23547 |
| 10    | Total                                                                                                                                             |  164033 |

As per data provided by states/UTs

Source: Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India