In agrarian Punjab, the count increased from 257 to 270 between 2020 and 2021. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released the figures on Monday under the data of accidental deaths and suicides.
The farmer unions of Punjab have claimed the actual number to be much higher, since three state universities’ survey from 2000 to December 2016 had thrown up a figure of 16,606 suicides in 16 years, taking the average to 1,000-plus a year.
Last year’s 1,64,033 Indian suicides were up from 1,53,052 recorded in 2020 and out of those victims in 2021, 10,881 were farmers and 5,318 were actual tillers, down from 5,579 recorded in 2020. The lost farm labourers’ count of 5,563 was up from 5,098 noted in 2020. Of Punjab’s 270 farm suicides in this period, 263 were men, 7 women, 171 actual cultivators, and 99 farm labourers. Of the actual cultivators, 154 had own land, while 17 had leased land. They included 2 women, while the lost farm labourers included five.
Farmer unionist Joginder Singh Ugrahan said: “Thousands of farmers continue to commit suicide, which also came out in the survey of Punjab Agricultural University, Punjabi University, and Guru Nanak Dev University. The NCRB has underreported these suicides.” BKU (Ekta Dakaunda) vice-president Manjit Singh Dhaner said: “The governments always try to hide the true picture of agriculture.”
The country lost more farm labourers in 2021 (5,563) that in 2020 (5,098). At 99, Punjab lost the maximum farm labourers since 2018’s figure of 94. Haryana’s 226 farm suicides of 2021 include 13 actual tiller, 213 farm labourers, and 2 woman, one each from the farmer and labourer communities. The NCRB doesn’t record the reasons for these suicides, while the police avoid putting those in the FIR (first-information report). A senior police official accepted that: “We blame either drugs or family dispute, tending to ignore farm stress. Sometimes, there is no autopsy and, hence, no reason is given in the FIR.”
A PAU study of farmers’ suicide in Punjab had suggested that in six districts, 9,291 farmers had ended their life between 2000 and 2018 and 88% of the cases were a fallout of agricultural debt.