APPENDIX AN ANALYSIS OF FARMERS SUICIDES IN RURAL PUNJAB SCHEDULE

Transcription

1 APPENDIX AN ANALYSIS OF FARMERS SUICIDES IN RURAL PUNJAB SCHEDULE 1. Village :- Block:- Tehsil: District:- 2. Name of the farmer who committed suicide:- 3. Name of the respondent:- 4. Father s name:- 5. Sex:- (Male/Female) 6. Category:- (General/BC/OBC/SC/Others) 7. Age:- 8. Education level Literate :- (Primary/Middle/Metric/Secondary/Graduate/ Postgraduate/Others) Illiterate:- 183

2 9. Family:- (Joint/Nuclear/Others) 10. Social background:- ( Jagirdar/ Panch/ Sarpanch/ Zaildar/ Lambardar /Others) 11. Marital status:- (Married/Unmarried/Divorce/Separate/widower/Others) 12. Occupation:- (Farming/Non-farming) 13. Particulars of the household Sr No. Name Age Education level Occupation Relation to the victim Others 14. Housing particulars Type Pucca Katcha Semipucca No. of rooms Kitchen No. of toilets & bathrooms Traditional Modern Traditional Modern 184

3 15. Household Assets and Their Value:- Sr. No Item name Qty. Current estimated value 1 Car/jeep 2 Scooter/motorcycle 3 Cycle 4 Refrigerator 5 Washing machine 6 TV 7 Cooler 8 VCD/VCR 9 Electrical fan 10 Generator 11 Inverter 12 Cooking gas 13 Furniture 14 Others 16. Information regarding land (in acres) 1) Ownership:- 2) Land taken on lease:- 3) Land given on lease:- 4) Un irrigation land:- 5) Land under irrigation :- 6) Through tube wells:- 7) Through canals:- 8) Fallow land:- 17. Information regarding land transaction Sale of land :- When it s sold:- Amount received from its:- 185

4 Reason for sale:- 1) Expenditure on health 2) House construction 3) Marriage and other socio-religions-ceremonies 4) Redemption of old debts 5) Redemption of mortgaged property 6) Expenditure of litigation 7) Others (specify) Purchase of land:- When its purchase:- Amount spent on its:- 18. Information regarding agriculture implements Sr. Implements Ownership Contract others No. 1 Tractor 2 Trolley 3 Plough 4 Combine harvester 5 Reaper 6 Others 186

5 19. Information regarding crops(in the preceding year of suicide) Crops Kharif/Rabi Paddy Cotton Sugarcane Wheat Sunflower Vegetables Others Sown(acres) Production(acres) Estimated sale price per(acres) Others 20. Income received from non farming occupation Sr no Occupation Gross income 1 Cows/buffalo 2 Poultry 3 Goat/sheep 4 Honey bees 5 Others 21. Non-agricultural household income Sr no Source of income 1 Salaries 2 Pension 3 Remittances 4 Daily wage employment 5 Interest on lending money 6 Others Annual earning 187

6 22. Household consumption expenditure Sr. Item Name No. 1 Food grains 2 Fruits 3 Vegetables 4 Milk 5 Milk Products 6 Sugarcane Product 7 Tobacco and Intoxicants 8 Clothing 9 Education 10 Health 11 Social events 12 Expenditure on Durables 13 Washing and Toilet Articles 14 Conveyance and Other Services 15 Other Miscellaneous Good and Services Annual Expenditure 188

7 23. Had he taken any debt? Yes or no, If yes then, Detail of Household Debt Sr. No Sources Amt Rate of interest Cash Kind Purpose When it is taken Amount Returned Amount Outstanding(Rs) P UP 1. Large Family and Landlords 2. Commission agents/money lenders 3. Relations and friends 4. Cloth Merchants and Grocers Land 5. Regional Rural Banks 6. Commercial Banks 7. Relations and friends Cooperative Institutions 8. Development Banks 9. Others(specify) 1. Purchase of milk animals 2. Purchase of Durable Goods 3. Purchase of Consumer Goods 4. House Construction 5. Expenditure on Health 6. Expenditure on Education 7. Marriages and Other socio-religious-ceremonies 8. Redemption of old debts 9. Redemption of mortgaged property 10. Expenditure of litigation 11. Others (specify) *P:-Productive *UP:-Unproductive 189

8 24. Are the installments of loan being paid regularly or not?- If not when were you unable to pay installment and then its reason? Flood/Drought/Illness /Attack of pest/water logging Reduction in yield Excess expenditure on marriage/birth/death/illness Excess expenditure on addiction (Drink/Poppy/Drugs/Opium) Others 25. Does he take drugs/intoxicants? i. Occasionally ii. Always 26. Dispute in the family Type Level Reason 27. Dispute outside the family Type Level Reason 28. Health problem of the victim/family member Level Type Reason Was he taking any treatment? If yes then how much money spent on treatment? 190

9 29. Details of suicide Date/Place:- Hanging/Pesticides/jumping in front of train/ jumping in river/ burning/others:- Does any body in the family committed suicide before also? yes or no 30. Immediate causes of suicide Economic causes Debt burden Poor financial position No of dependents are more Crop failure Unviable land holding Cost of production is more and falling profit Unavailability of easy credit Social causes Social stigma that they could not repay loan Bank officials/money lenders pressurized him to repay the loan Court cases Consumerism, Heavy expenditure on social events Widespread dependence on drugs Marital discord Psychological Causes Depression Husband-wife relation was not cordial Property dispute Others 191

10 31. Effects on the family after farmers committed suicide:- (A) Economic effects 1. Adverse effect on family employment 2. Reduction in income 3. Land sold (whole/partial) 4. live stock sold 5. Economic status affected 6. More loan taken 7. Lease out land (B) Social effects 1. Feeling of insecurity 2. Social stigmatization 3. Studies of children stopped 4. Social status adversely affected 5. House sold 6. Children lost both the parents 7. Daughters could not get married even to an average family 8. More responsibility on old age people 9. Harassment by money lenders/ bank officials 31. Any steps taken to tackle the problem. By farmers union By social originations By political parties and leaders Any others 192

11 32. What was the result of these steps taken to tackle the problem? 33. Steps Taken by the government/police to tackle this problem 34. Remarks by the person filling the Performa 193

12 AN ANALYSIS OF FARMERS SUICIDES IN RURAL PUNJAB ABSTRACT The agriculture sector provides the livelihood to villagers of India as more than 60 percent of rural people are engaged in agriculture allied activities. At the time of independence Indian agriculture was in a hopeless and deplorable condition. Generally farmers were in heavy debt to the village money-lenders as agriculture was carried on subsistence basis. Heavy indebtedness has been leading to many social, economic and psychological problems among the farmers. The debt trap.forces to sell their land and sometimes the farmers are taking extreme step of committing suicide. The present study is based on primary as well as on secondary data. The survey has been conducted in Sangrur, Mansa, Faridkot and Bathinda districts of Punjab state during the year Three villages have been selected from each block of the selected districts based on the list of suicide victim farmers in the villages as made available by Bharitya Kissan Union. The sample comprising of total 455 affected families was taken for investigation. On the basis of proportions 343 small, 102 medium and 10 large farmers from all the 42 villages have been selected.. In all the categories majority of the farmers were illiterate and young, committed suicide by consuming pesticides. To repay old debt, farmers had taken fresh loans and when they were unable to pay that too, they sold their land just to avoid the humiliation from bank officials or moneylenders. The commission agents were 194

13 the largest contributor towards loans in all the farmer categories. Proportion of non farm income and education level of farmers has inverse relationship with indebtedness. Statistical analysis and grading of causes reveals that Indebtedness is one of the major causes of farmers suicides. Recommendations to address the issue of farmers suicides in rural Punjab have been proposed : where no earning member is left in the family, widow/ old age pension scheme can be extended to such families. A special literacy and vocational education plan should be prepared. Institutional credit at low rate of interest with easy repayment facilities should be provided. Cooperative sector should be developed /strengthened in the state. To reduce risk at farmers level, a suitable crop insurance scheme should be launched. Magnitude of indebtedness can be decreased by reducing the gap between consumption expenditure and income of the farmers. 195