THE BURDEN OF SURVIVAL: CAUSES OF FARMER SUICIDES

AUTHOR – HARSHDEEP RAVINDRA DEORE & SOHAM SANTOSH BANDAL, STUDENTS AT KES SHRI JAYANTILAL H PATEL LAW COLLEGE

BEST CITATION – HARSHDEEP RAVINDRA DEORE & SOHAM SANTOSH BANDAL, THE BURDEN OF SURVIVAL: CAUSES OF FARMER SUICIDES, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (1) OF 2025, PG. 1138-1146, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.

ABSTRACT

What seems to be a social and economic crisis in India is the increasing number of farmer suicides. This issue is often ignored by the government. In this paper, I investigate the causes of the so called“silent crisis,” paying particular attention to the condition of tenant farmers who are most impacted and often ignored as far as the statistical summaries go. The story of Archana Chinchore, a farmer widow from Maharashta, illustrates the consequences of burdening debt that comes along with deep seated negligence to rural agriculture. Nearly Shocking: India in between 1991to 2001has had 8 million Indian farmers stop farming as a profession because it was too risky. This has mostly gone unnoticed, for these lesser- known sections of society like Dalits and Adivasis, which are affected, are further silenced by need of possessing landownership papers like 7/12 document. During this time in Maharashtra alone, 822 farmers suicides were registered in the year 2024.

Farmers face a myriad of issues which become even more complex due to systemic failures like predatory lending and climate shocks. The resulting debt leads to a myriad of issues like poverty, stigma, debt and even education, especially for surviving spouses like Archana who were left with the husbands bills.This crisis is not strictly economic but rather an intricate combination of social, economic and ecological problems that stem from decades of undermined policy.

To tackle these layered forms of anguish, the solutions ought to be multi dimensional. They should also include may other actions like debt cancellation, just pricing of the crops, and implementation of climate smart agriculture. Moreover, to lessen the impact of these unfortunate events, mental health interventions for the affected families need to be attending. Without active and transparent relief aid funding under political promises of loan write- offs and minimum support prices (MSP), there is bound to be failure.

This paper, however, proposes a caring change in policies so that farmers are not treated as mere numbers, but as contributors to the farming economy. We shall advance, through supporting landlord’s rights and gendered approaches to climate change, towards actions which deal with the issues that cause farmer suicides in India. This must urgently be heard to stop the seeming endless suicides by bringing to attention the plight of farmers.

Keywords: farmer suicides, tenant farmers, agrarian distress, debt relief, climate adaptation, mental health… etc.