Bangalore: The Karnataka Revenue Department has reported that 1,182 farmers have died by suicide over the past 15 months, citing severe drought, crop loss, and overwhelming debt as the primary causes.
The majority of these suicides occurred in the districts of Belagavi, Haveri, and Dharwad, which reported 122, 120, and 101 cases respectively. Other districts with significant numbers of farmer suicides included Chikkamagalur with 89, Kalaburgi with 69, and Yadagiri with 68 cases during the same period. Out of the 27 districts in Karnataka where farmers resorted to suicide, only six reported cases in single digits. The remaining 21 districts saw 30 or more cases of farmer suicides each.
Chikkaballapur and Chamarajnagar each recorded two farmer suicide cases. In September, Karnataka's Minister for Sugarcane Development and Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMC), Shivanand Patil, sparked controversy by stating that the number of farmer suicides had significantly increased after the government raised the compensation for the families of the deceased to Rs 5 lakh. Patil argued that this compensation was claimed by families of farmers who died by suicide due to financial distress from crop losses and the inability to repay loans.
In response to Patil's comments, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stated that those who committed suicide "for their own reasons" could not be considered farmers. "Where are the suicides? Tell me. People who commit suicide for their own reasons, can we call them farmers? It’s all false," he said.
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