Karnataka Reports 2,809 Farmer Suicides in Three Years Despite Declining Trend

Karnataka's government has revealed that 2,809 farmers have died by suicide over the past three years, while emphasizing a declining trend in recent periods. Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy provided these statistics in a written response to BJP MLA Aravind Bellad's inquiry in the Legislative Assembly.

The data presented shows 1,254 farmer suicides in 2023-24, followed by 1,178 in 2024-25. For the current year 2025-26, 377 cases have been documented thus far, bringing the total to 2,809 cases across the three-year period.

Despite the noted decrease, the minister acknowledged that Karnataka holds the unfortunate position of ranking second nationally in farmer suicide rates according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

Comprehensive year-wise and district-wise information has been supplied to the House through detailed annexures.

Regarding compensation measures, the government reported that financial assistance has been disbursed to many affected families. However, some payments remain pending due to technical challenges with the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) system, including issues such as dormant or closed bank accounts, unlinked Aadhaar details, NPCI mapping failures, and frozen accounts.

The minister assured that pending compensation would be released once these technical issues are resolved. He noted that certain older cases cannot receive payments due to Finance Department restrictions.

Additionally, the House was informed about a recent Finance Department directive dated November 6, which stipulates that compensation for farmer suicide cases must be settled within nine months of occurrence. For cases involving accidental death and disability, the payment window is six months.

While recognizing the gravity of the situation, the government maintained that farmer suicide rates have decreased compared to the previous three-year period. Officials rejected assertions that government assistance programs had failed, stating that ongoing interventions are yielding positive results in addressing the issue.