NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha that over 25,000 Indians died by
suicide due to either unemployment or indebtedness between 2018 and 2020. The data provided by the government showed that as many as 9,140 people died by suicide due to unemployment and 16,091 people due to bankruptcy or indebtedness during the time period, the government told the upper house.
The information was provided by Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai in a written reply to a question on the issue. Rai said that the government figures are based on data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Government has been cornered by the Opposition on the issues of unemployment in past few weeks. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at the government on the issue of unemployment, and cited a survey to say that the good days are elusive.
According to the data, suicides among the unemployed have been increasing and touched the highest (3,548) in the pandemic year of 2020. While 2,741 ended life due to unemployment in 2018, 2,851 did so in 2019. The data said that in 2018, 4,970 died by suicide due to bankruptcy, in 2019 the figure increased to 5,908. In 2020, the figures dropped by over 600 deaths to 5,213.
The minister said the government was looking to address the issue by focusing on mental health and creating employment opportunities. “To address the burden of mental disorders, the National Mental Health Programme is being implemented, along with supporting the District Mental Health Programme in 692 districts in the country,” he said.
“The programme aims to provide suicide prevention services, workplace stress management, life skills training and counselling in schools and colleges; mental health services including prevention, promotion and long-term continuing care at different levels of district healthcare delivery system and promote community awareness and participation in the delivery of mental healthcare services,” he said. The minister said that flagship programmes of the Centre have the potential to generate productive employment opportunities.