High debt isn’t driving Indian farmers to suicide

The numbers tell a different story. And, given the detrimental impact on credit discipline, not to mention the hole such waivers are going to blow in state budgets, politicians would be wise to rethink their plans.

Sea of distressed farmers march to Parliament Street, opposition parties join in show of strength — All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) members and farmers march towards Parliament for their demands, at Ranjit Singh flyover in New Delhi on Friday. (EXPRESS PHOTO BY PRAVEEN KHANNA 30 11 2018.)

Written by Shamika Ravi

It’s election season in India and the money is flowing. Governments in many states have begun waiving tens of millions of dollars’ worth of loans to poor farmers in an effort to buy their loyalty. The argument – widely accepted by politicians and journalists, the demographic groups with the least fiscal instinct – is that India’s farmers are buckling under the weight of their debts and rural suicides are spiking dangerously. Rural households are desperate for relief.

The numbers tell a different story. And, given the detrimental impact on credit discipline, not to mention the hole such waivers are going to blow in state budgets, politicians would be wise to rethink their plans.

According to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, the number of farmers committing suicide has actually been falling in recent years; fewer such deaths were recorded in 2016 than at any time in the previous 16 years. Nearly twice as many Indian housewives commit suicide as farmers do.