Farmer suicides decline in Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Farmer suicides in united Andhra Pradesh recorded a decline in 2013 with about 2,014 deaths, according to the National Crime Records Bureau. The previous year saw 2,572 farmer suicides in the two regions. Undivided AP was only behind Maharashtra in farmer suicides even in 2013. Interestingly, the TRS government had recently announced that there were only 22 farmer suicides in the newly-formed state. Experts generally attribute most of the farmer suicides to Vidarbha and Telangana with the two regions sharing nearly 40 per cent of all suicides.

According to the NCRB report released on Tuesday, there were 3,146 deaths in Maharashtra, the highest in the country. Maharashtra’s share of farmer suicides had also reduced from 3,786 such deaths in 2012. However, activists and experts say there is gross under reporting in the number of deaths. For instance, Chattisgarh this year, recorded just 4 farmer suicides while data for West Bengal was not given.

G.V. Ramanjaneyulu, director, Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, said, “About 40 per cent of all farmer suicides in the country are from Vidarbha and Telangana. It is very concerning. Of these 2,014 deaths, about 1,800 must have been from Telangana but the government doesn’t recognise most of them due to agricultural crisis.” The government had also claimed that there had been no farmer suicides in Warangal district for the past four years. “Governments are trying quick fix solutions like farm loan waiver which help them get votes,” Mr Ramanjaneyulu said.