No farmer suicide in two years, says West Bengal govt

BJP refutes the claim, says situation is grave

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee | PTI West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee | PTI

The West Bengal government said on Saturday that while the country was reeling under farm distress, the state had not recorded even a single farmer suicide in 2018 and 2019.

A government statement said, "West Bengal has not registered a single case of death by suicide by any farmer in 2018 and 2019, according to the NCRB Report 2019. The state government is committed towards the overall socio-economic development of the families of all farmers."

Citing the National Crime Record Bureau's  'Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India Report 2019', the statement said at least 10,281 people involved in farm sector died by suicide in India in 2019, accounting for 7.4 per cent of the total number of suicides in the country.

The 2019 figure is marginally lower than that of 2018 when 10,348 people took their lives. 

The states where maximum number of farmers' suicides took place are Maharashtra (3,927), Karnataka (1,992), Andhra Pradesh (1,029), Madhya Pradesh (541), Chhattisgarh and Telangana (499). These six states account for 83 per cent of suicides committed by persons involved in the farm sector.

The BJP strongly refuted the claim of the West Bengal government.

"There is no report of farmers by this state government. They relate all suicides in the rural belt to family problems. Other states are honest in admitting it," said a BJP leader.

Claiming that the situation in the state is grave, he said the party's current movement was prompted by the distress of the farmers.

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