Over the past six years, the suicide rate among farmers and daily wage work have increased considerably. As many as 42,480 farmers and daily wagers died by suicide in 2019, a 6 per cent increase from the previous year, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data showed.
The suicide cases have doubled to 23.4 per cent last year as compared to the six years before, that accounts for one in every for farmers and daily wagers.
According to the NCRB data on accidental deaths and suicides, 10,281 farmers committed suicide in 2019, down from 10,357 in 2018, whereas the figure for daily wagers went up to 32,559 from 30,132.
The suicide rate in the farming sector accounted for 7.4 per cent of the total suicides in the country, resulting in deaths of 5,957 farmers and 4,324 agricultural labourers, reported The Indian Express.
Death among daily wagers totalled up to 1,39,123, the largest chunk of such deaths recorded by the agency last year. The data excludes agricultural labourers.
Tamil Nadu recorded the maximum number of fatalities among the daily-wage earners with 5,186 deaths, followed by Maharashtra with 4,128, Madhya Pradesh recorded 3,964 fatalities, Telangana with 2,858 and Kerala reported 2,809 deaths.
The government agency categorised daily-wagers in its ‘Accidental Deaths & Suicides’ data in 2014. That year, they made up 12 per cent of suicide deaths, that rose up to 17.8 per cent in 2015, 19.2 per cent in 2016, 22.1 per cent in 2017, 22.4 per cent in 2018 and doubling to 23.4 per cent last year.
However, the suicide rate among them, as well as those engaged in the farming sector, has seen a decline. Agricultural labourers are a separate sub-category under persons working in the farming sector and accounted for 3.1 per cent of the total suicides in 2019.
Apart from daily wagers, housewives and persons engaged in the farming sector, the NCRB report lists professionals/salaried persons, students, self-employed persons, retired persons, unemployed and other persons under the list of deaths by suicide.
The 2019 statistics revealed the second-highest death rate is among housewives. They made up for about 21,359, accounting for 15.4 per cent of the cases.
The suicide rate among the unemployed in suicides in 2019 accounted for 10.1 per cent, double for the first time in the 25 years. Most of the fatalities were reported from Kerala (10,963 deaths), Maharashtra (1,511), Tamil Nadu (1,368), Karnataka (1,293) and Odisha (858).
