FARMER SUICIDES

FARMER SUICIDES
Some states fight the trend, but still ...
Five States did manage a significant decline in the average number of farm suicides between 2003 and 2010. However, more States have reported increases over the same period.
P Sainath | Agriculture
December 2011

SUICIDES IN CHHATISGARH
"Only the idiots are committing suicide"
In Chhatisgarh's Durg district, there is no shortage of farmers who have taken their lives - the district ranks second in the state on this count. But equally, there is no shortage of those who don't see these suicides.
Chhatisgarh
March 2009

VIDARBHA, MAHARASHTRA
Series by Jaideep Hardikar

Reports

 •  "We cultivate pearls, our children go hungry"
 •  Life on credit, death in installments
 •  Cooking the numbers
 •  The tale of three widows
 •  Replying with bullets
 •  Sermons for the distressed souls
 •  Vehicle loans, turbulent Vidarbha
 •  Poison reaches them, not government
 •  Suicide in a distant land
 •  350 and counting
 •  Loan after loan devastates
 •  Another farmer ends his life
 •  The end of innocence
 •  No cheques, no balances
 •  Poll freebies not much help
 •  Cotton marketing fails farmers
 •  Vidharbha: A suicides diary

Analysis essays
 •  Much research, no action
 •  Rising import of 'suicides'
 •  Rise of the moneylender
 •  Rich daddy, poor daddy

Series by P Sainath

 •  The coming water wars
 •  How the deal was done
 •  The World Bank and the big bang
 •  Whose suicide is it, anyway?
 •  No rain, but snow and waterparks
 •  Russian roulette
 •  Suicides: The price of power?
 •  As you sow, so shall you weep
 •  The farmer and his festival lights
 •  Of chit funds and loan lotteries
 •  Mortgages are out, land grab is in
 •  Chor Bt aur Bt chor
 •  The riots and wrongs of caste
 •  Awaiting a deadly harvest
 •  Shamrao breaks his appointment
 •  Cry, the beloved countryside
 •  Swelling register of deaths
 •  A scenario of post-mortems 24x7
 •  'Forced privatisation' of cotton
 •  Creative solutions, sarkari-style
 •  Three weddings and a funeral
 •  Waiting for 'anna'
 •  Slowing down the suicides
 •  How Mumbai discovered Vidarbha
 •  The politics of relief packages
 •  "Give us a price, not a package"
 •  A final note on credit
 •  Striking a note on dissent

  ANDHRA PRADESH

Series by P Sainath

 •  When farmers die
 •  Sinking borewells, rising debt
 •  Death of a carpenter
 •  Anatomy of a health disaster
 •  Micro-credit, maxi risk
 •  Percentage raj
 •  Naidu: image and reality

 •  Dreaming of water, drowning in..
 •  Seeds of suicide - I
 •  Seeds of suicide - II
 •  Jobs drought before crisis
 •  How the better half dies
 •  How the better half dies - II
 •  The after-death industry
 •  Farmers lose crores in insurance
 •  Renew lapsed insurance policies
 •  Look to helpline, land in jail

WAYANAD, KERALA

Series by P Sainath

 •  The cross and the crisis
 •  So near to God, far from Heaven
 •  Hope dies slowly in Wayanad
 •  Crisis drives the bus to Kutta
 •  Fewer jobs, more buses
 •  Arrack as distress trade

 •  Commerce, crisis hit students
 •  Coffee sails globally, sinks locally
 •  Spice of life, whiff of death
 •  Weddings on hold as prices crash
 •  Will live ballots revive economy?