The suicide rate among the unemployed is higher than that of farmers. Farmer suicides numbers are low in Punjab in comparison to those due to drug problems. Suicide rate is higher in the south which is prosperous than in UP and Bihar, which are not that well off. These were some of the talking points shared at a national seminar on ‘Suicides in India: Tendencies, prevention and mitigation of the social crisis’ at the Nizam College in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
“This seminar is dedicated to the families of individuals who have ended their lives as they need more fortitude. We want to understand how to help students, farmers and others who are contemplating suicide,” said Vinita Pandey, the seminar director as she invoked Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s poem; Koshish karney walon ke haar nahi hoti (those who make an attempt don’t lose) to set the agenda.
Abha Chauhan, secretary of Indian Sociological Society, who gave the keynote address said: “I teach in Jammu and Kashmir which is going through a troubled phase. Our research has shown that in the Army, suicides are shown as accidents as otherwise the soldier’s families will not get insurance benefits. It also shows the Army in poor light and hence this is done.”
Ms. Chauhan spoke about the effort to decriminalise suicide. “Suicide is individual, but the suicide rate is a sociological phenomenon. The new mental healthcare bill deals with suicide, but it treats it as a mental health issue. It is not. Unless we see suicide as a sociological issue that can be prevented we are not doing justice to the problem,” said Ms. Chauhan.
Sociology professors and teachers from across the country are participating in the seminar which has a number of technical sessions and paper presentations. The seminar will conclude on October 6.
