As many as 9,291 farmers died by suicide between 2000 and 2018 in six districts of Punjab, a Panjab Agriculture University (PAU) study published in the latest edition of Economic and Political Weekly has revealed.
The districts surveyed were Sangrur, Bathinda, Ludhiana, Mansa, Moga and Barnala.
Heavy debt – most incurred against loans from non-institutional sources – was stated as the prime driving factor in 88% of these cases, the study has found.
Marginal and small farmers were the chief victims – 77% of famers who died by suicide owned fewer than two hectares of land, the study said.
The field survey also revealed that around 93% of the affected households were of those where one death by suicide had occurred. In 7% of the families, there were two or more
— source thewire.in | Vivek Gupta | 21/Jun/2022