National data on causes of suicide in farming sector untenable: Govt tells Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: The government on Monday told the Rajya Sabha that the national data on causes of suicides in the farming sector had become untenable due to many states and Union territories having reported 'nil' suicides by

farmers

and agricultural labourers, and was therefore not published separately.



Reply to a query from Congress MP P L Punia seeking confirmation of and reasons for NCRB having done away with enlisting causes for farmers' suicides in its annual report on '

Accidents and Suicides

in India', minister of state for home G Kishan Reddy said: "As informed by National Crime Records Bureau, many states/Union territories had reported “nil” data on suicides by farmers/ cultivators and agricultural labourers after several validations, even while reporting suicides in other professions. Due to this limitation, national data on causes of

suicide

in farming sector was untenable and not published separately".

As per the NCRB report on 'Accidents and Suicides in India 2019",

West Bengal

, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry reported ‘zero’ suicides by farmers, cultivators and agricultural labourers in 2019. This was also the case in 2018, with West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Goa, Chandigarh, Daman & Diu, Delhi, Ladakh and Puducherry returning ‘nil’ suicides.

Overal, 10,281 suicides by farmers, cultivators and agricultural labourers were reported countrywide last year, down from 10,349 in 2018. Of the 10,281 suicides, 5,957 were by farmers or cultivators and 4,324 by agricultural labourers.
Maharashtra accounted for the highest share (38.2%) in suicides related to the farm sector in 2019, followed by Karnataka (19.4%), Andhra Pradesh (10%), Madhya Pradesh (5.3%) and Telangana/Chhattisgarh (4.9% each).