Lok Sabha Question No. 4367 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-03-29
Subject: Database of Farmer Suicide
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Aparajita Sarangi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4367

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 29 TH  MARCH, 2022

## DATABASE OF FARMER SUICIDE

4367. SHRIMATI APARAJITA SARANGI:

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

- (a) whether the Government maintains any database for the suicide of farmers in a year and  if  so,  the  details  of  the  number  of  suicides  by  farmers  during  the  past  five  years particularly in Odisha;
- (b)  whether  any  study  has  been/is  being  conducted  to  identify  major  causes  of  such suicides and if so, details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government grants any compensation to the family of farmers who commit suicide;
- (d) if  so,  the  amount of  compensation given for the past three years and the total funds disbursed for such compensation during the past five years; and
- (e)  whether the loan waiver scheme initiated by the Government has benefitted farmers and has helped in reduction of suicides among farmers for the reason of debt?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

कृ ष एवं कसान कयाण मंी (SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (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). NCRB has published reports upto 2020 which are available on its website. As per the NCRB Reports, the details of the number of suicides by farmers/ cultivators in the State of Odisha during the past five years is as under:

|   Year |   No. of farmers committed suicide in the State of Odisha |
|--------|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|   2016 |                                                        20 |
|   2017 |                                                         0 |
|   2018 |                                                         0 |
|   2019 |                                                         0 |
|   2020 |                                                         0 |

(b):  Government  had  undertaken  a  study  'Farmers  Suicide  in  India:  Causes  and  Policy Prescription'  as  an  all  India  coordinated  study  in  the  work  plan  2016-17  through  the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru. The study covered 13 states of the country which included Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,  Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,  Punjab,  Haryana,  Gujarat,  Uttar  Pradesh and West Bengal.

The  study  concluded  that  frequent  crop  failure  due  to  vagaries  of  monsoon, absence  of  assured  water  resources  and  attack  of  pest  and  diseases  are  the  most important causes of farmers' distress.

(c) & (d):     Agriculture being a State Subject, the State Governments provide relief.

(e): In  order  to  cover  farmers  under  institutional  credit  ambit,  the  Government  has initiated a saturation drive i.e. Kisan Credit Card (KCC) to make them eligible for Interest Subvention Scheme (ISS) for concessional credit.

Benefit of concessional institutional credit through KCC at 4% interest per annum on prompt repayment, has also now been extended to Animal Husbandry and Fisheries farmers for meeting their short-term working capital needs.

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