Anantapur: ‘Need to develop strategies to prevent suicides’

Anantapur : Expressing concern over the increasing suicidal tendencies among youth and farmers, Praja Science Vedika resource person Suresh Babu stressed on developing strategies by policy makers to address the challenges. He spoke at a seminar on ‘Increasing suicidal tendencies among students and youth’ organised by the Vedika here on Friday.

He said that over 1.7 lakh suicides were reported in 2022, nearly one-third of the suicides were among daily wage earners, agricultural laborers, and farmers. The most common causes were family problems and illness, accounting for almost half of all suicides. Other significant causes included drug abuse, alcohol addiction.

Suresh opined that addressing suicides and farmers distress in India requires a comprehensive and multi-faceted approach involving various stakeholders, including government bodies, NGOs, communities and mental health professionals. The government should introduce and implement agricultural reforms that address issues such as access to credit, fair pricing, and crop insurance and provide financial literacy programmes to help farmers manage their finances more effectively.