431 farmers committed suicide in Chhattisgarh in last three years: Govt

The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday informed the state legislative assembly that 431 farmers have committed suicide in the last three years in the state.

In a written reply to a question asked by senior BJP MLA Ajay Chandrakar, state Home Minister Tamradhwaj Sahu said, ''As many as 431 farmers have committed suicide between April 1, 2019 and January 31, 2022 in the state.'' Of the total number of these suicide cases, three farmers took the extreme step due to agriculture-related reason, it said.

In the reply, the minister further said, 166 farmers committed suicide in the financial year 2019-2020, while 186 in the next fiscal. In the ongoing financial year, 79 farmers ended their lives till January 31.

As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), a government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data, Chhattisgarh ranked at the 6th position in the country in terms of farmers' suicides in 2019 and 2020, while figures of 2021 are yet to be published by the agency, the reply said.