Farmers Suicide: Facts & Possible Policy Interventions

Description

This book is a focussed, in-depth investigation into the suicide epidemic that has hit farmers of India in the early twenty first century. The epidemic is not confined to just one district, one state or one particular crop. There could be some debate about the quantum of the epidemic and its nature. But there can be little doubt that the situation is bad. On the basis of comprehensive information collected from one district it investigates the social construction of suicide. Taking a holistic picture of distress, it argues that focussing on indebtedness andothereconomisticcausesamountstomissingthetreesforthe wood. The need of the hour is for the nation to do more than that and if required, even provide direct subsidies to the actual cultivator. Health and education are the other sectors where greater responsibility needs to be taken by the government. Table of Contents I: INTRODUCTION 12 Regional profile 34 II: Choosing Yavatmal 46 Searching for a solution 51 III: Evaluation of existing studies 54 12 out of 111 cases reported by Mishra 62 Five out of 36 reported by Dandekar et al. 73 IV: Statistical profile 80 V: Rural Indebtedness 96 Role of institutional debt 97 The impact of default 101 The issue of non-institutional debt 104 VI: ROOTS OF DISTRESS: SOCIAL 108 Where there were no loans 108 Accident or illness where there were loans 110 Some overwhelming single circumstance 111 A combination of factors 115 Illness 117 Chronic illness constitutes serious drain on family resources 120 Poor medical facilities and lack of counselling 120 Family history 121 VII: ROOTS OF DISTRESS: FINANCIAL 124 How relevant is rural indebtedness 124 Cases of financial troubles 125 Where the bank initiated some action 127 Agriculture was not primary source of income 128 Cases of agrarian trouble 130 Crop failure 132 Familial difficulties made agriculture a difficult occupation 133 Harassment by moneylender 134 Cases of personality disorders 136 Thrift 137 Is there a pattern? 139 VIII: Situation Assessment 140 Attitude to farming 141 Farm subsidies and the scissors crisis 143 Awareness about institutional mechanisms 146 Situation of the Maharashtra farmer 154 IX: Summing Up 156 X: RECOMMENDATIONS 162 The Essential Ten Points 164 XI: Direct subsidies 168 CASE STUDIES 176 BIBLIOGRAPHY 258 INDEX 260