HYDERABAD: Telangana which claims to be ‘farmer friendly’ stands in fourth position in the country in terms of farmers’ suicides reported during the year 2020.
Overall, 466 farmers died by suicide in Telangana in 2020, as per the Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India, 2020 report released by the National Crime Records Bureau on Thursday. Adding five agricultural labourers, a total of 471 people engaged in the farming sector have died by suicide in 2020.
Of the 466, 419 were men and 47 woman farmers. Among them, 343 cultivated their own land including 310 men and 33 female farmers.
The report shows that 123 suicide victims cultivated lease lands including 109 men and 14 women. Four men and one woman were among the agricultural labourers who died by suicide during the year 2020.
During 2020, a total of 5,567 farmer suicides have been reported across the country of which Maharashtra topped the list with 2567 suicides, followed by Karnataka 1072, Andhra Pradesh 563 and Telangana. Chhattisgarh with 227 farmer suicides stood in the fifth position.
In 2019 too, Telangana recorded the fourth-highest number of farmer suicides in the country. However the number had decreased from 499 to 466 in 2020. According to ADSI reports, the number of farmer suicides in Telangana has declined when compared to the previous three years.
In 2018, the State recorded suicides of 908 farmers. In the year 2017, it was 851, and in 2016, it was 645.
Rate of suicides in State double the national average
With 8,058 suicides reported in Telangana, suicides have increased by 5 per cent during the year 2020, according to the Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India 2020 report released by the NCRB on Thursday. With 7,675 suicides in 2019, the rate of suicides in the State at 21.5 per lakh population is almost double the national average of 11.3 per lakh.
Over 47 per cent of the suicide victims were daily wage earners, including 3,058 men and 773 women. About 52 per cent (4,190) of the suicides in Telangana were due to family problems, followed by 950 due to illnesses, which include 389 suicides due to mental illnesses, 90 due to paralysis, 69 due to cancer, and 77 due to drug abuse and alcoholic addiction.
A total of 193 suicides were by jilted lovers and 23 were due to unemployment. During 2020, 489 students died by suicide and 150 over unemployment. More than 76 per cent (6,132) suicide victims in Telangana were married, including 4,540 men and 1,592 women
3K+ persons ended lives with poison
A total of 2,386 suicide victims were not educated and 3,174 victims were in the income group of `1-5 lakh per annum. 3,765 victims consumed poison and 2,838 died by hanging. More than 76% suicide victims in Telangana were married
(If you are having suicidal thoughts, or are worried about a friend or need emotional support, someone is always there to listen. Call Sneha Foundation - 04424640050 (available 24x7) or iCall, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences' helpline - 9152987821, which is available Monday to Saturday from 8 am to 10 pm).