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A farmer has committed suicide in Uttar Pradesh's Jalaun District after being unable to clear his backbreaking debt. The victim was identified as Lakhan Singh. "He had been registered for a farmer's credit card but he was finding it difficult to pay his debts and was worried for some time now," said Rajendra Singh, one of his relatives. The financial burden on farmers in the country can only be termed as pitiable as most of them struggle under the burden of heavy debts and the low yield they generate from their limited portion of land. The number are staggering. As per the estimates of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), from 2009, more than 216, 000 farmers have committed suicide since 1997. If the figures for 1995, 1996 and 2010 are added the total crosses 250,000. The result comes out to an average of two farmers a day killing themselves, for the past 15 years. More than 17,000 farmers committed suicide in 2009, the worst count since 2004. India woke up to the reality of farmer's suicide in the 1990s with western Maharashtra state being the first to report such acts. Soon reports of more such cases began to appear from southern Andhra Pradesh state.

Heavily indebted farmer commits suicide in Jalaun