Bhubaneswar: Total 79 farmers have committed suicide during last 10 years in Odisha, as per officially recorded figures. However, none of these were due to crop loss or crop distress, Agriculture & Farmers Empowerment and Fisheries Minister, Ranendra Pratap Swain said.
In response to a question pertaining to farmer suicides posed by Rengali MLA, Nauri Nayak, Swain said that these cases have been thoroughly probed. “Any of these suicides is not related to farming activities, rather due to domestic or other disputes.”
Health problems, accidental drowning, family disputes, intoxication of country liquor, and miscellaneous reasons evolved during course of inquiry into these cases. However, none of these were due to crop loss or debt burden, the document shared by the Minister revealed.
In three such cases, in Bolangir during 2015, the actual reason behind the suicides could not be ascertained, the Minister’s note read. Apart from this, there were 14 suicides in Bargarh from 2015 to 2017, and these were mostly due to family dispute or mental distress.
Seven cases were reported in Ganjam in 2017, six suicide cases each were reported in Jajpur, Khurda, and Nuapada from 2014 to 2017. Similarly, from 2016 to 2021 total five suicide cases occured in Sambalpur district, the Minister’s note further read.
