Unraveling Punjab's farmer suicides

Debt and Death in Rural India: The Punjab Story

Author: Inderjeet Singh Jaijee

Publisher: Sage Publications, New Delhi, India

Pages: 360

Year: September 2011

OneWorld: Your book draws on your late daughter’s research work on farmer suicides in Punjab. What made you decide to put together this book?

Inderjeet Singh Jaijee

The Jaijee ancestral village falls in Munak subdivision. Farmer suicides began to surface back in the late ‘80s and at first it seemed that the increase might be just coincidental.

But one factor after another began to weigh in – successive years of crop loss on account of bad weather, cotton crop lost several years in a row because of American boll weevil infestation, rapid increase in cost of seed, fertiliser and pesticide and fuel costs, sinking water-table, dependence on informal and exploitative sources of credit, and overall rapidly declining profitability – and it became apparent that farmers were being pushed deeper and deeper into debt and losing their land. The response to this spiral of personal and community distress was suicide. More and more people were killing themselves.

We began to note down the names and dates of suicide victims in 1988, starting with our own village and gradually including data from more villages until we were covering all 91 villages in Munak subdivision. As people came to know that we were recording this information they began to contact us on their own.

We started bringing this growing problem to the attention of senior political leaders, persons at the highest levels of government, the universities and the Reserve Bank of India. K.R. Narayanan, then President of India, was the first to whom we wrote and he responded sympathetically. At his instance, a series of inquiries were initiated.

Subsequently we wrote to President Dr APJ Abul Kalam. He praised our research as “comprehensive”. The Reserve Bank conducted its own inquiry which resulted in certain relief measures for those farmers under debt to banks. In 2003, Punjab Agriculture University Report made the following acknowledgement in its report:

“Inderjit Singh Jaijee, convener of the Movement Against State Repression (MASR… wrote in a letter to President K.R. Narayana stating that 93 poverty-driven suicides, which took place in a cluster of five villages in Sangrur district were the result of a lack of opportunities and economic injustice.” The PAU study dealt with the phenomena of suicides identifying causes and suggesting remedies, but did not try to find out how widespread the phenomena of suicides  was or attempt to quantify the suicides.

At the time of Aman’s (my daughter) unfortunate death in 2006, she was simultaneously involved in social work among families of rural suicide victims and pursuing her PhD from Panjab University. The book is based on her doctoral research and has been compiled, expanded and edited by me.

OW: Punjab is considered a success story of India. Yet debt-driven farmer suicides show a high incidence compared to other states. Why is this issue then not getting the attention it deserves?

ISJ: The government does not wish to acknowledge suicides and instead of carrying out an honest assessment, it has been handing out research assignments to small research units lacking the resources to carry out a state-level census. These studies are directed more toward finding the reasons for suicides rather than finding the level of suicides which would indicate the seriousness of the problem. These institutions are largely dependent on government assignments and therefore are careful not to rubbish the government position.

Concealment is also effected by the deliberate misinformation put out the Revenue and Police Departments. Three Deputy Commissioners of Sangrur, Bathinda, and Mansa respectively and SDM, Munak, on a single day declared to the press that there were no cases of suicides in their respective districts. There was obviously pressure from the administration to downplay suicides, perhaps because of compensation implications.

There are several reasons why the state government and particularly the police, are reluctant to come out with an honest enumeration. During the period of Punjab militancy (1984-1994), there were a large number of unrecorded killings and reports of disappearances and cremation of unidentified bodies at various state crematoriums. Recording cause of death in the death and birth register would place the police in a difficult situation. That is why post mortem of unnatural deaths is not mandatory unless there is a police case.

Another reason why suicides go unreported is that suicide is a penal offence. Families are afraid to disclose a suicide.

OW: What are the main economic and political factors responsible for the rising debts in rural Punjab?

ISJ: One of the primary reasons is the policy failure at the Union level. The responsibility for suicide deaths lies with the centre; nearly all cases of suicide in rural Punjab involve persons who were heavily in debt.

Central policies with regard to agricultural prices are largely responsible for the pauperisation of rural Punjab. However, many other Central policies play a role in crippling the state. The book attempts to analyse these policies and show their consequences at the grassroots level.

The causes for Punjab farmers’ distress are not difficult to identify:

a) Punjab is unjustly deprived of its rightful share of river waters. Punjab’s river water has been diverted to the states of Haryana, Rajasthan, J&K and Delhi.  This results in inadequate water supply to the state, a shortfall in value terms, loss of land, and incurs costs of repairing canals.

b) Punjab’s rights under riparian law are violated. Punjab’s river water was diverted to Rajasthan and Haryana in violation of national and international riparian law through coercive agreements. As Rajasthan started drawing more and more water, Punjab was worst affected by scarcity at the tail-end of the canal system where supply of irrigation water has been drastically reduced. These water-scarce areas coincide with the suicide-prone areas. The diversion of this water has caused loss to Punjab agriculture that runs into astronomical figures.

c) Punjab does not fully benefit from electricity generated by its rivers. As a result, the state depends on costly thermal power generation and tube well irrigation. Its water table is sinking, and requires frequent deepening of tube wells. Salinity of subsoil water is worsening.

d) Unfavourable price structure for crops and inputs. Decades of unrealistically low government-set minimum support prices (MSP) and high input costs. The cost recovery from agriculture is just 80% of the investment. Consumers of other states have been subsidised at Punjab farmers’ cost over many years. Punjab and Haryana combined contribute approximately 67% of all wheat procured in India. Overall contribution (all grains) comes to around 60%. The largest producers are automatically the largest sufferers.

e) Restriction on trade. Following the tragedy of partition, Punjab lost a significant economic resource. Reopening the border with Pakistan would not only allow Punjab to benefit from favourable terms for agricultural products, it would also benefit Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana in particular and India in general.

f) Land ceiling. Although land ceiling is a state subject, Central government through its ruling Congress party in Punjab imposed ceiling of 17.5 standard acres. Growth in agricultural landholding is impossible due to fragmentation, and non-profitability. Holdings have declined drastically. 75% holdings are below 2 hectares.

g) Inadequate availability of credit at affordable interest rate. Seventy percent of farm loans are advanced by non-institutional lenders at high interest rates. Only about 30% are advanced by institutional lenders (banks, co-op societies) at regulated rate of interest. Interest rate for institutional finance has been 16-18%; in contrast, non-institutional loans carry an interest rate of 40-60%.

Village land is rapidly passing from the hands of the farmers to the arthiyas and money-lenders. Men whose forefathers tilled the same fields for generations are now forced to sell their land, often to settle “debts” that may be illegal, entirely fraudulent or even non-existent.

h) Lack of direct subsidies to farmers. According to a former Union Minister for Agriculture, Som Nath, “the total volume of subsidies available to farmers in India is just 10%, which is peanuts compared to what is available to the agriculturally and industrially advanced countries— 60% of farmers received no subsidies in any form”. 

i) Promotion of unsuitable corporate farming. Even if agriculture flourishes under corporate management, the agriculturists themselves would be dispossessed and impoverished. Corporate farming also will mean outflow of money from the state, and perhaps even the nation. At this stage the impoverished farmers are not in a position to purchase land. On the other hand, the arthiyas and corporate sector are more likely to acquire what land the farmers have left.

j) Agricultural research/extension effort. The Center provided research money for high-yielding hybrid varieties but not enough for improving grain quality. Punjab was pushed to become the breadbasket of India and this policy helped so long as international grain prices ruled higher than domestic prices. The increase in domestic production and fall in international prices resulted in greater consumer selectivity in grain purchase.

k) Failure to promote industry. In order to convert Punjab into the granary of India, the Center denied the state heavy industry. The state’s vulnerability on account of its location on the border with Pakistan was used to justify this denial. Punjab has missed out on value addition for its agricultural produce.

l) Failure to provide education. The areas of Punjab most affected by suicides are also the areas having the lowest literacy rates. Literacy figures for Lehra block are 29%, for Andana block is 28%, and Budhlada block is 28%.

Low literacy means severely restricted life opportunities. As farming income nosedives, the people of these areas are unequipped to take up any other livelihood except labour.

m) Lack of crop insurance. For the past 50 years the government has been promising farmers crop insurance. Till such time, the state must increase ad hoc relief to farmers to Rs 10,000 per acre for wheat and paddy and disburse it well in time.

n) Continuance of caste-based programmes. Instead of bringing more and more groups under the category of Scheduled Caste, abolish caste-based assistance and adopt economic status as the criteria for uplift programmes. All poor people, regardless of their caste, deserve such a move.   

OW: Do you see growing consumerism as contributing to the situation?

ISJ: Like people in cities, villagers are also exposed to modern media such as films and television. What they see makes them aspire to more affluent life styles. When they realise that their chances of actually ever enjoying such a life are very slim, it often demoralises them. Punjab has been the granary of India and an example of rural prosperity. To be reduced to debt and stringency is hard indeed.

On the other hand, their own traditional culture has waned under the impact of a consumerist society and pauperisation. Disintegration of social support institutions such as family, kinship, panchayats, etc. have left the poor people in a state of all round despair and helplessness. Division and fragmentation of farmers’ movements has led to a situation in which instead of finding a solution in a collective way, individuals are left to fend for themselves. There is no one to share their misery and they become loners in their last days. One once heard happy songs in rural Punjab, now the only songs left are dirges.

OW: What are your future plans for your NGO Movement Against State Repression? 

ISJ: MASR’s one-point programme is to keep hammering this issue until some actual on-the-ground remedial measures are implemented. We don’t want just a bandage here and a bandage there. At village level we continue to mobilise support for widows and orphans who are in dire need.

Within just a couple of months voters of Punjab will go to the polls, so we must ensure that candidates of all parties are compelled to face the problem of rural suicides. Since the Congress party is hoping to recapture power we will try very hard to bring both state level and national level political leaders face-to-face with this issue.

Suicide is violence turned inward upon oneself. The direction of this violence  may change. A day may come when violence erupts outward. Then the rural people will be accused of revolting against the state and all the forces of the state will be unleashed against them. How much better it would be to prevent this by giving justice to the rural community.

The states too are growing increasingly restive. Increasingly Central government diktat is being questioned not just by Punjab but by many states. India’s Prime Minister speaks again and again of inclusive development but the states look at their position vis-à-vis the Centre and conclude that what he means is that they may be included, but only as third class passengers with the PM driving the train.

Inderjeet Singh Jaijee has been a long serving advocate of people's rights and dignity in the Punjab region. In 1985 he was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly; he has served as President of the Indian Minority and Dalit Front; has worked for more than 15 years with the Movement Against State Repression (MASR); and is a founding member of the Rescue and Revival mission of the Baba Nanak Educational Society.

(Editing by Poorva Sagar)