Farmers’ Indebtedness Most Important Cause Of Suicides
A very recent study on farmer suicides during 2000-2018 in six districts of Punjab has stated that as many as 88% of these were due to debts.
This study by Sukhpal Singh, Manjeet Kaur and HS Kingra of Punjab Agriculture University published in the Economic and Political Weekly has stated about this state, which has seen the most intensive form of the green revolution in India, “Of the total 9,291 farmer suicide cases, more than 77% were those of marginal and small farmers who cultivated up to two hectares of land. It is important to note that the number of these small landholdings is around 34% of the total landholdings in the state.”
Drawing attention to some other important aspects, this study says that 41% of the victims were in the age-group 31-35, 33% did not have any other earning members, 45% were illiterate and 96% were not involved in any socio-political activities.