Farmer Suicides in Chhatttisgarh: Issues and Challenges

Authors

  • Prof Pratibha J Mishra

Abstract

CHHATTISGARH has for long been in the national eye for its Naxal threat. But few know of its other grave crisis that has been kept carefully under wraps – that its farmers have been silently killing themselves for nearly a decade now. Five states — Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — account for just a third of the country’s population but two thirds of the India’s farmers’ suicides.

The issue of unrelenting wave of farmers' suicides in Chhattisgarh has now reached National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in New Delhi. Accusing state government and Centre of doing nothing to stop farmers from resorting to the extreme step, State Farmers Association lodged a complaint with the commission seeking its intervention. State government has admitted that 309 farmers committed suicide in Chhattisgarh in three years. Maximum suicides were reported from Surguja in North Chhattisgarh.

The government is direction-less and has no intention to help farmers either. They do not have any strategy to help the dying farmers. And the situation will be severe in the years to come. Even today's budget has no policies to tackle the drought hit situation

There are lot of limitations for protection to agriculture in new economic policy. In globalization era grant in aid of agriculture were drawn and in other hand import of agricultural products allowed without restrictions at large amount. Faulty and unfavourable policies to agriculture, lead to suicides of farmers at large. On this background, in the present paper an attempt has been made to focus on the causes of farmer's suicide in chhattisgarh, nature of problem, consequences and its remedies.

Published

2017-01-30

How to Cite

Mishra, P. P. J. (2017). Farmer Suicides in Chhatttisgarh: Issues and Challenges. Academy of Social Science Journal, 2(1). Retrieved from http://innovativejournal.in/index.php/assj/article/view/1981

Issue

Section

Accepted Article