In Punjab, more than 3,500 farmers have committed suicide in the past 10 years and 97 per cent of these suicides have occurred in the Malwa region of the state.
We have all been hearing since childhood that India is a country of farmers and just as the soldiers should be respected, similarly farmers also deserve respect. That is why, perhaps former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri coined the slogan “Jai Jawaan, Jai Kisaan”. However, do you know that 52 per cent of India's farmer households are in debt?
Even in films and stories, the farmers of Punjab are shown as the happiest farmers, but such is their plight now that they have no way but to commit suicide. Punjab grows more than 12 per cent of the total grains produced in the country. However, there are several villages in the state with no men in the family as they have all committed suicide because of the burden of debts.
In Punjab, more than 3,500 farmers have committed suicide in the past 10 years and 97 per cent of these suicides have occurred in the Malwa area of the state. The result is that in Malwa fields where farmers ever used to grow cotton, wheat and paddy has now turned into graveyards.
The Punjab government is opposing the new agricultural bill. But the fact is that the state government itself has failed to give the farmers their rights which is forcing them to take the extreme step.
In the year 2019, 10,281 farmers committed suicide in India. In India, 8 per cent of the total number of people who commit suicide every year are farmers. The families of farmers in India who are in debt have an average debt of Rs 1,10,000. This sum may seem small to you, but for the farmer who waits for the crop to grow in his fields throughout the year and then sells it in the market at a modest profit, this is quite a large sum. Sometimes, circumstances become such that farmers are unable to repay the debt and they are forced to commit suicide. The fact is that a farmer in India wins only one vote and after he dies, he only turns into a government file with compensation.
Punjab’s Malwa is now being discredited all over the country the rate at which its farmers are resorting to suicide for being unable to pay their debts. There are 4,000 voters living in Kothdharmu village of Mansa but about 20 to 25 farmers have committed suicide. It is also alleged that sometimes farmers are forced to sell crops like cotton at a price lower than the MSP. In addition, weather-hit and lacklustre government arrangements sometimes leave no option for farmers but to commit suicide.
A number of schemes were also formulated to compensate farmers who committed suicide, but most of the schemes do not reach the farmers’ families.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Farmers")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}