Telangana saw 95 percent drop in farmer suicides during KCR regime, proves NCRB data

Farmer suicides in Telangana fell by 95.84% between 2015 and 2023, with the State’s share in India dropping from 11.1% to 0.51%. Welfare schemes like Rythu Bandhu, crop procurement, and irrigation expansion helped reduce debt distress.

Hyderabad: Farmer suicides in Telangana recorded a dramatic fall during the ten-year rule of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, with official data showing a 95.84 per cent decline between 2015 and 2023. The State’s share in farmers suicides in the country declined sharply from 11.1 per cent in 2015 to 0.51 per cent in 2023.

According to the latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), 10,786 farmers died by suicide across India in 2023, but Telangana’s share was just 0.51 per cent. When Telangana was formed in 2014, the State reported 1,347 farmer suicides. The number increased to 1,400 in 2015, but plummeted to just 56 by 2023, marking the steepest decline recorded by any State in the country.

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The State, which once ranked second nationally in farm suicides, stood at 14th place. The first five years of statehood saw an average of 1,030 suicides annually, but in the second five years, that average number dropped to 312 annually, a 69.65 per cent reduction.

Officials and farmers’ unions attribute the sharp fall to a series of welfare measures introduced during Chandrashekhar Rao’s tenure including Rythu Bandhu investment support, government procurement of crops and irrigation expansion through the Kaleshwaram project. Together, these initiatives created a safety net that reduced debt distress, the primary driver of farmer suicides.

Agricultural experts stated that Telangana’s turnaround was significant because no other State has shown such a steep and sustained decline. They cited the Telangana model as an example of targeted farm welfare yielding tangible results.

– Number of farmers’ suicides in Telangana plummeted from 1,400 in 2014, 1347 in 2015 to 56 in 2023.
– Telangana’s share in farmers’ suicides in India decreased from 11.1 per cent in 2015 to 0.51 per cent in 2023.
– Telangana’s rank fell from second-third position to 14 position, in farmers’ suicides.