Year: 2019 | Month: September | Volume 64 | Issue 3
Farmer Suicides in Madhya Pradesh
Ravi Singh Chouhan
H.K. Niranjan
H.O. Sharma
Deepak Rathi
DOI:10.30954/0424-2513.3.2019.3
Abstract:
The study comprises 50 households related to victims’ family of Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh as numbers of victims were found to be maximum in this particular district in the year 2014-15 and intensive survey of these respondents was carried out in the year 2015-16. It is observed from the data that the prominent causes of farmer suicides in Madhya Pradesh as recognised by the majority of the respondents were found to be family problems i.e. illness (46%), drug abuse/alcoholic addiction (32%), fall in social reputation (22%), extra martial affairs (36%) and frequent quarrel between victims and family member (20%). None of farmers was found to commit suicides due to poverty and property disputes. The main problems of suicides were found to be lack of access to mental health services in rural areas and shame attached to treatment (82%), lack of rehabilitation centres for drug and alcoholic addition (78%) and lack of avenues for off/non farm income (52%). Therefore, it is suggested that the government should remove the bottlenecks and increase access in remote areas. In addition to these a psychologist must be appointed in Govt. Hospitals and Rehabilitation Centre for drug abuse and alcoholic addiction should be established at least at block level particularly in identified hot spots of farmer suicides districts of the state. Efforts should also be made so that crop insurance scheme should reach at individual level and health insurance should be made mandatory with Govt. support for the farming community. A campaign should also be launched for crop/varietal diversification in various agro climatic regions of Madhya Pradesh. The role of various social institutions must be increased for this in future for increasing awareness of different development programmes of state and central govt. amongst the farmer community.
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