New data has reinforced the fact that the farmer death crisis continues to stare India in the face. Nearly 43,000 farmers and daily wage earners have reportedly died by suicide in 2019, based on the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.?
According to the data, 32,563 daily wage earners died by suicide which made up for 23.4 per cent of the total such cases in the country. In 2018, the number was 30,132.?
In the farming sector, 10,281 people which consisted of 5,957 farmers or cultivators and 4,324 agricultural labourers died by suicide in the last year. This accounts for 7.4 per cent of the total deaths of this nature, which is 1,39,123. Back in 2018, the figure stood at 10,349.?
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Out of the total figure of 5,957 farmer deaths of this nature in 2019, males accounted for 5,563 and 394 were females.?Out of the 4,324 deaths by suicide of agricultural labourers during 2019, 3,749 were male and 575 were female, the NCRB, which functions under the Union Home Ministry, stated.
Maharashtra (38.2 per cent) had the most number of victims in the farming sector, followed by Karanataka (19.4 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (10 per cent), Madhya Pradesh (5.3 per cent), Chhattisgarh (4.9 per cent) and Telangana (4.9 per cent).?
Meanwhile, the NCRB stated that West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Delhi UT, Lakshadweep and Puducherry reported 'zero' deaths by suicide of farmers or cultivators as well as agricultural labourers.
India's total suicide rate went up from 1,34,516 in 2018 to 1,39,123 during 2019, according to the data. Daily wage earners (23.4 per cent) were the biggest part of such fatalities, followed by housewives (15.4 per cent).
They were followed by self-employed (11.6 per cent), unemployed (10.1 per cent), professionals or salaried people (9.1 per cent), students and persons engaged in farming sector (both 7.4 per cent), and retired persons (0.9 per cent), the data showed.
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Additionally, of the total number, 12.6 per cent were illiterate while only 3.7 per cent were graduates and above.