As many as 4,257 farmers ended their lives in the last five years in Karnataka, while the number of suicides dropped 71 per cent in the post-Covid period, according to government data.
The BJP seized on the "positive development" to tout its unwavering "focus on farmers", even as a farmers' organisation rubbished the figures and claimed the government was "under-reporting".
In 2018, there were 1,084 instances of farmers killing themselves, but the number of suicides fell to 310 in 2022, a significant drop in a drought-prone state where 60 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture.
Farmers who kill themselves due to debt get Rs 5 lakh in compensation and the deceased's spouse gets a monthly pension of Rs 2,000.
Out of the 4,257 farmer suicides reported, the government has approved compensation in 3,442 cases, according to data tabled by Agriculture Minister BC Patil and Revenue Minister R Ashoka in the just-concluded Budget session of the legislature.
"That farmer suicides have reduced is an extremely positive development," BJP Raitha Morcha (farmers' wing) president Eranna Kadadi, a Rajya Sabha member, told DH. "No other government has focused on farmers like ours. It's only the BJP that talks about farmers' income. The focus has been on reducing input costs. We're also taking steps to provide a better market for farm produce."
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha leader Nandini Jayaram disputed the figures and accused the government of under-reporting.
"It's a lie," she said. "If the number of suicides is high, it is an embarrassment to the government and leads to payment of compensation. So, the solution is to under-report."
Kadadi denied this charge.
"Farmers are more aware now," he said. "The government gives Rs 5 lakh as compensation. So, when there is a suicide, all efforts are made by farmers groups to make sure the aid reaches the family of the deceased. I'm not saying all problems are solved. But a start has been made."
While not ruling out the possibility of under-reporting, Karnataka State Sugarcane Farmers' Association president Kuruburu Shanthakumar welcomed the decrease in farmer suicides.
"It's not that the government has done something great. Suicides are decreasing because groups like ours are creating awareness by telling farmers that dying is not an option," he said.
Discrepancy
During the Budget debate, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai told the Assembly that there were 1,125 farmer suicides under the BJP government as opposed to 3,800 during the Congress rule. However, between 2019 and 2022 of the BJP rule, there were 3,173 farmer suicides, according to Bommai's Cabinet colleagues.