Farmers' Suicide in Punjab: Analysis of Reporting in Print Media

International Journal of Chemical Studies 2019; 7(3): 3320-3323

Manjot Kaur Manjot Kaur, Ravijot Kaur and Sarabjeet Singh Senior Research Fellow, Department of Agricultural Journalism, Languages and Abstract Culture, Punjab Agricultural An immense number of farmers’ suicide, highlighted by the media in Punjab, is certainly a disturbing University, Ludhiana, Punjab, phenomenon. Therefore, this exercise was done to analyse the media reportage on farmer suicides in India Punjab. Five widely distributed vernacular local dailies of Punjab namely Ajit, Jag Bani, Punjabi Tribune, Rozana Spokesman and Punjabi Jagran were selected for the present research work. News Ravijot Kaur clippings on farmer’s suicide, published by selected newspapers were collected from Jan 2017 to Dec Senior Research Fellow, 2018. It was found that during the two years period i.e. for 1st January 2017 to December 31, 2018, a total Department of Agricultural of 709 farmers’ committed suicide. The number of farmers who committed suicide were more in 2017 Journalism, Languages and (387) then in 2018 (322). During the second quadrimester of two years i.e. May to August, maximum Culture, Punjab Agricultural number of farmers committed suicides (327). Highest percentage (29%) of news on farmers’ suicide was University, Ludhiana, Punjab, published by Ajit newspaper. Highest percentage (39% in 2017 & 28% in 2018) of farmers who India committed suicide belonged to the age group of 31-45 years. Highest percentage of farmers (44.57 %)

ends life due to depression + debt. A new trend of killing family members, relatives, friends etc. before Sarabjeet Singh Professor, Department of committing suicide was also observed and it is increasing rapidly. As per the data reported by the various Agricultural Journalism, newspapers during the year 2017, 15 persons killed 27 people before committing suicide during May to Languages and Culture, Punjab August. This number almost doubled in 2018 as 18 people killed 45 people before committing suicide Agricultural University, during the same period. Therefore medical and mental health services along with financial help should be Ludhiana, Punjab, India provided to the farmers under debt to completely end up culture of farmer suicides in Punjab. It can also be suggested that media personnel must follow WHO guidelines while reporting suicide and preventive measures should be included in the side bar of the news by every newspaper.

Keywords: Farmer suicide, reported causes, killing before suicide, print media

Introduction Farmers’ suicides have been receiving a lot of media attention, more so by the vernacular local dailies, in recent years. The problem of farmer suicide is both theoretical and interpretative in nature. Although there is an availability of empirical data, there exists a deficiency in establishing interrelationships, due to a lack of sufficient understanding of its trends and [6] complex patterns (Kaviraj, 1984) . A study conducted by the Institute for Development and Communication, Chandigarh, revealed that in Punjab there is no single factor that attributed to the people taking the extreme step. The spate of farmers’ suicides, highlighted by the media in Punjab, is certainly a disturbing phenomenon (Kumar & Sharma, 1998) [7]. Media portrayal of suicide has been associated with

copycat behavior, especially if the reported suicide is glorified or sensationalized or if the [1] method is explicitly described (Chen et al., 2011) . Further, media can be a source of misinformation about suicide, often simplistically giving the impression that suicide is caused predominantly by immediate stressors rather than being linked to mental health problem and/or substance use/misuse (Hawton and Willams, 2005) [4]. In addition, media can help

enhance mental health literacy in the community. The media was joined in by the economists, political scientists, sociologists, social workers, and farmer organizations in drawing attention towards this tragic situation. Keeping its importance in mind the present study on Farmer’s Correspondence suicide in Punjab: Analysis of reporting in Print media was planned with the following Manjot Kaur objectives: Senior Research Fellow, Department of Agricultural  To analyse the reporting on farmers suicide in Print media Journalism, Languages and  To find out the various reported reasons of farmer’s suicide in Punjab. Culture, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab, India ~ 3320 ~ International Journal of Chemical Studies

Methodology Table 2: Newspaper wise distribution of news reported on farmer This exercise was done to analyse the media reportage on suicides during 2017-18.

farmer suicides in Punjab. Five widely distributed vernacular 2017- 2018 Sr. No. Newspaper local dailies of Punjab namely Ajit, Jag Bani, Punjabi f % Tribune, Rozana Spokesman and Punjabi Jagran were 1. Ajit 392 28.97 selected for the present research work. News clippings on 2. Jag Bani 103 7.61 farmer’s suicide, published by selected newspapers were 3. Punjabi Tribune 301 22.25 collected from Jan 2017 to Dec 2018. The available 4. Punjabi Jagran 349 25.79 information on monthly pattern of suicide, age of persons and 5. Rozana Spokesman 208 15.37 reported causes of suicide was used to analyze the data Total 1353 through frequency and percentages. Although, selected newspapers covered similar cases of Results & Discussion farmer suicide with slightly different headings and Monthly pattern of suicides demographic information but the data presented in Table 2 The data in Table 1 shows that during the two years period i.e. revealed that highest percentage (29%) of news on farmers’ for 1st January 2017 to December 31, 2018, a total of 709 suicide were published by Ajit newspaper followed by farmers’ committed suicide. The number of farmers who Punjabi Jagran (26%), Punjabi Tribune (22%) and Rozana committed suicide were more in 2017 (387) then in 2018 Spokesman (15%). While, minimum news on farmers’ suicide (322). As per the newspaper reports, in 2017, maximum was covered by Jag Bani (8%). number (65) of farmers committed suicide during the month of July. While in 2018, maximum (43) farmers committed Distribution of suicides by age suicides during the month of May. During January & The data in Table 3 clearly depicts that overall 709 farmer February 2017, minimum (8) number of farmers’ committed suicides were reported by the selected newspapers during the suicides. While in 2018, the minimum number of farmers year 2017-2018. suicides was reported in October (12). Another trend of farmer suicides can be inferred from this Table 3: Age wise distribution of reported farmer suicides during 2017-18. reporting that during the second quadrimester of two years i.e. May to August, maximum number of farmers committed 2017-2018 suicides (327). It is almost more than double during the Age 2017 2018 Total quarter from January to April. This hints at planning more f % f % f % concerted effort during the second quadrimester of the year. Up to 30 61 15.76 48 14.91 109 15.37 The results are in line with study conducted by Dandekar and 31-45 152 39.28 91 28.26 243 34.27 Bhattacharya, 2017 [2]. They found that majority of the 46-60 85 21.96 78 24.22 163 22.99 suicides in Sangrur occurred from May to October. Above 60 14 3.62 26 8.07 40 5.64 Not Mentioned 75 19.38 79 24.53 154 21.72 Table 1: Month wise distribution of reported farmer suicide during Total 387 322 709 2017-18 It was found that highest percentage (39% in 2017 & 28% in 2017- 2018 2018) of farmers who committed suicide belonged to the age Sr. No. Month 2017 2018 Total group of 31-45 years. Lowest percentage (4% in 2017 and 8% f % f % f % 1. January 8 2.07 24 7.45 32 4.51 in 2018) of suicidal farmers was above 60 years of age. 2. February 8 2.07 24 7.45 32 4.51 Therefore, it can be concluded that middle aged farmers 3. March 14 3.62 36 11.18 50 7.05 committed maximum number of suicides. The reason can be 4. April 14 3.62 33 10.25 47 6.63 the stress and overburden due to responsibilities of farming 5. May 35 9.04 43 13.35 78 11.00 and family, education and marriage of children and exorbitant 6. June 35 9.04 34 10.56 69 9.73 expenditure on farming equipments etc. 7. July 65 16.79 38 11.80 103 14.53 8. August 56 14.47 21 6.52 77 10.86 Distribution of reported reasons of suicides 9. September 57 14.73 20 6.21 77 10.86 It was found that there are various reasons of farmers’ suicide 10. October 38 9.82 12 3.73 50 7.05 in Punjab. On the basis of News clippings collected and from 11. November 26 6.72 24 7.45 50 7.05 the intensive analysis of suicides reported in media during 12. December 31 8.01 13 4.04 44 6.21 January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018, the reported reasons Total 387 322 709 were categorized as solo and multiple reasons responsible for farmers’ suicide. The perusal of data in Table 4 shows that out High rates of suicide in this period may be attributed to the of the total 709 cases of farmer suicides in Punjab as per relatively poor harvest of Kharif crops and increase in reported by the print media, highest percentage of farmers outstanding debt. The inability to begin sowing for the next (44.57 %) ends their life due to depression + debt. It can be season due to a dip in credit worthiness leads to a larger clearly inferred from the data that the farmers who committed number of suicides in the subsequent months. suicide due to debt were depressed too, therefore they ended their life. In remaining cases depression was accompanied by Newspaper wise distribution other factors like, Crop Failure, Disease and Marriage It is important to discuss here that, a total of 1353 news on Problem etc. These findings are supported by Mann, 2002. He farmers’ suicide were published by the selected dailies. revealed that farmers feel a repeated sense of hopelessness due to the loss of crops, income and land. Most suicide victims have a diagnosable psychiatric illness/disorder and the

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most common disorder is mood swings. From those suffering The findings are supported by Singh and Manisha, 2015. from psychiatric illness, suicide attempters suffered from a They revealed that the largest cause of suicides was family greater degree of depression and hopelessness. discord in Punjab. Disrepute is a newly emerged and very interesting reason of Table 4: Distribution of reported reasons as solo and multiple suicide reported by the regional newspapers of Punjab. Out of reasons of suicides the 709 cases of farmer suicide in Punjab, 11 (1.55%) farmers

Sr. No. Reported reasons of suicide f % committed suicide due to disrepute. Disrepute includes Solo Reasons harassment, false allegation, insult in front of family and loss 1. Debt 233 32.86 a court case etc. Other factors that accompanied disrepute 2. Depression 29 4.09 were depression, debt and family dispute. Farmer Suicides: 3. Dispute (Land, family, love etc.) 17 2.40 Manjunatha and Ramppa (2017) [8] supported the research 4. Crop Failure 4 0.56 work as they revealed that fall in social reputation (67.01%) 5. Disrepute 11 1.55 was found as one of the major causes of suicide in farmers of 6. Disease 1 0.14 Punjab as reported by victim’s households (HHs) during 7. Drugs 1 0.14 2014-2015 and 2015-2016. Multiple Reasons 8. Debt+ Depression 316 44.57 9. Debt + Land Sale 18 2.54 10. Debt + Marriage 3 0.42 11. Debt+ Family Dispute 2 0.28 12. Debt + Land Dispute 2 0.28 13. Debt + Unemployment 1 0.14 14. Debt+ Drugs 1 0.14 15. Disease+ Debt 5 0.71 16. Disease+ Depression 5 0.71 17. Disease + Land Sale 1 0.14 18. Land Sale + Depression 1 0.14 19. Crop Failure+ Depression 1 0.14 20. Crop Failure+ Debt 19 2.68 21. Death +Debt 2 0.28 22. Dishonor+ Depression 2 0.28 23. Dishonor+ Debt 4 0.56 Fig 1: Major reported reasons of farmers’ suicide in Punjab 24. Land Dispute + Depression 4 0.56 25. Family Dispute + Depression 1 0.14 26. Debt + Drugs + Depression 1 0.14 The data revealed that disease, a natural death and drugs can 27. Debt + Crop Failure + Depression 1 0.14 also lead a farmer towards suicide. In many cases the reasons 28. Marriage + Land Sale + Debt 1 0.14 reported for farmer’s suicide were disease + depression, 29. Disease + Crop Failure + Debt 1 0.14 disease + debt, disease + crop failure and disease+ land sale. 30. Disease + Death + Debt 2 0.28 It was also found that few farmers’ committed suicide due to 31. Disease+ Debt+ Depression 1 0.14 death of their loved one and drug addiction. It was also 32. Dishonor+ Debt+ Family Dispute 1 0.14 noticed that in 10 cases of farmers’ suicide the reason was not 33. Depression + Crop Failure + Disease 1 0.14 mentioned by the selected dailies. 34. Debt+ Depression +Marriage 2 0.28 It can be concluded that due to complex nature of the 35. Depression+ Debt+ Land Sale 4 0.56 phenomena, it is certainly difficult to pinpoint one particular 36. Not Mentioned 10 1.41 reason for the suicide. The findings are supported by Deshpande, 2002. He found that events such as crop loss, Debt is the most publicized reason of suicide. However, price crash, family problems, property disputes and problem of debt is not new to farming populace. Debt is one daughter’s marriage act as stress creators. Usually illness of of the most common factor of almost all rural suicides. It was the individual or any family members, heavy borrowing, found from the above data that one-third of the farmers’ continued disputes in the family or land related problems act committed suicide due to the burden of Debt (32.86%). In as stressors which further leads a person towards suicide. some cases, other reasons like crop failure, land sale and unemployment etc. also accompanied the debt. The results are New trends in suicides: Killing family members before in line with results obtained by Jain, 2013. She reported that committing suicide Indebtedness was found to be the major cause of suicides in A new trend of killing family members, relatives, friends etc. Punjab. before committing suicide is fast increasing. As per the data In very few cases, farmers end their life due to some kind of reported by the various newspapers during the year 2017, 15 disputes. It was found that 2.40 et al per cent farmers persons killed 27 people before committing suicide during committed suicide because of disputes related to land, love May to August. This number almost doubled in 2018 as 18 and family etc. Other reported reasons that accompanied the people killed 45 people before committing suicide during the disputes and led farmers to resort to such a drastic step were same period. depression, love problem, marriage problem and land sale etc.

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Table 5: Distribution of cases on killing before suicide, reported by Acknowledgement the selected newspapers This data was collected under the Project ‘Utshah’ and the

Year 2017 2018 Total financial support to complete this research work was provided Number of people who kill others before suicide 15 18 33 by NASF-ICAR. Total number of People Killed 27 45 72 Reasons of Killing before Suicide References Inter personal stressor 8 11 19 1. Chen YY, Chen F, Yip PS. The impact of media Drugs 1 - 1 reporting of suicide on actual suicides in Taiwan, 2002- Debt 3 - 3 05. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. Disease - 2 2 2011; 65:934–940. Not Mentioned 3 5 8 2. Dandekar A, Bhattacharya S. Lives in Debt: Narratives of Relation with people killed Agrarian Distress and Farmer Suicides Economic and Father - 3 3 Political Weekly. 2017; 52:77-84. Mother - 2 2 3. Deshpande RS. Suicide by Farmers in Karnataka: Brother 1 - 1 Agrarian Distress and Possible Alleviatory Steps Sister 3 - 3 Economic and Political Weekly. 2002; 37:2601-2610. Wife 4 11 15

Son 5 12 17 4. Hawton K, Williams KE. Media influences on suicidal Daughter 9 9 18 behavior: evidence and prevention. In book: Prevention Lover 1 1 2 and Treatment of Suicidal Behavior. From Science to Nephew 1 - 1 Practice Chapter: Media influences on suicidal behavior: Grandson 2 - 2 evidence and prevention Publisher: Oxford University Colleague - 3 3 Press Oxford, 2005. Daughter-in-law 1 - 1 5. Jain K. Farmers' Suicide in Punjab: A Sociological Children - 4 4 Perspective. M.Sc. Thesis Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, 2013. The data presented in Table 5 revealed that majority of people 6. Kaviraj S. On the Crisis of Political Institutions in India’ killed by the suicidal person were their family members. Contributions to Indian Sociology, 1984. During these two years 15 sons, 17 daughters were killed by 7. Kumar P, Sharma SL. Suicides in Rural Punjab their fathers while 16 wives each were killed by their Monograph Series V. The Punjab State Cooperative husbands before committing suicide. During the period of Apex Bank Ltd. Department of Co-operation investigation, the combined figure of killing in these two Government of Punjab Institute for Development and years also includes killing of three sisters and three Communication Chandigarh, 1998. colleagues. Two people killed their mothers and three killed 8. Manjunatha AV, Ramappa KB. Farmer Suicides: An All their fathers before committing suicide. In other cases, the India Study Agriculture Development and Rural suicidal persons killed their nephew, grandson, daughter-in- Transformation Centre Report Institute for Social and law, brothers etc. Major reason of these killings and suicide as Economic Change Karnataka, 2017. reported was interpersonal stressors like domestic violence, 9. Mann JA. Current perspective of suicide and attempted family disputes and land disputes etc. These stressors are suicide Annuals of Internal Medicine. 2002; 136:302- increasing in the farming families too and it is feared that 311. farming families can also fall in this trend sooner or later. 10. Singh H, Manisha. Crisis in Agricultural Heartland: Farm Therefore this needs immediate attention as it can be highly Suicides in Malwa Region of Punjab India. International destructive for the farming community and society as a whole. Journal of Advancements in Research and Technology. 2015; 4:107-118. Conclusion Overall, it can be concluded that debt and depression together are reported as the main culprit of farmers’ suicide in Punjab. However in various cases it was also accompanied by other factors like dispute, disease, disrepute, death and drugs. Therefore medical and mental health services along with financial help should be provide to the farmers under debt to completely end up culture of farmer suicides in Punjab. In case of killing before suicide the major reason reported was interpersonal stressor, it is increasing in the farming families too. It can be highly destructive for the farming community and society as a whole. Despite the evidence that many deaths are preventable, suicide is too often a low priority for governments and policy- makers. Further, it is important to sensitize media for the responsible reporting of the suicide. It can also be suggested that media personnel must follow WHO guideline while reporting suicide and preventive measures should be included along with the news by every newspaper. Public awareness programs regarding suicide prevention can be developed through collaboration with local media professionals.

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