Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

Unemployment Led to More Than 3,000 Suicides in 2020: Nityanand Rai

The Minister of State for Home, citing the NCRB data, said, between 2018 and 2020, 16,091 died by suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness.
February 10, 2022

The first pandemic year, 2020, saw the highest number of suicides, 3,548, among the unemployed, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, informed Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai in a written reply in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. The total number of suicides in 2020 was 1.53 lakh, up from 1.39 lakh in 2019.

In his reply, Rai also said that between 2018 and 2020, 16,091 died by suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness – 4,970 in 2018, 5,908 in 2019, and 5,213 in 2020.

In terms of states, Karnataka reported 720 suicides, followed by 625 from Maharashtra, 336 from Tamil Nadu, 234 from Assam, 227 from Uttar Pradesh, according to NCRB data.

In suicides due to bankruptcy or indebtedness, Maharashtra, the state with highest number of farmer suicides each year, topped the list in 2020 with 1,341 deaths, followed by Karnataka (1,025), Telangana (947), Andhra Pradesh (782) and Tamil Nadu (524).

According to NCRB data, suicides due to unemployment has been increasing over the last few years – the toll was 2,851 in 2019, 2,741 in 2018, 2,404 in 2017, 2,298 in 2016, 2,723 in 2015, and 2,207 in 2014.

The total number of suicides among the unemployed during the BJP-led government at the Centre (2014-2020) was 18,772, an average of 2,681 deaths per year.

Under the UPA government, the number stood at 15,322 – 2,090 in 2013; 1,731 in 2012; 2,333 in 2011; 2,222 in 2010; 2,472 in 2009; 2,080 in 2008; and 2,394 in 2007 – at an average of 2,188 deaths per year.