At least 10,349 persons working in the farm sector ended their lives in 2018, accounting for 7.7 per cent of the total 1,34,516 suicides in the country, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). The 2018 figure is less in comparison to 2016 when 11,379 farmers committed suicide, according to the agency, which is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data. Many states and union territories have reported nil data on suicides by farmers, cultivators and farm labourers. “West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, Goa, Chandigarh, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Lakshadweep and Puducherry reported zero suicides of farmers/cultivators as well as agricultural labourers,” the NCRB report said.
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