Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that on average 115 daily wage earners and 63 housewives ended their lives every day in India in 2021, which saw a total of 1,64,033 suicides in the country.

Sharing data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Rai said a total of 42,004 daily wage earners and 23,179 housewives committed suicide last year.

Altogether, 20,231 self-employed people, 15,870 salaried people, 13,714 unemployed, 13,089 students, 12,055 involved in business, and 11,431 involved in private sector enterprises committed suicide last year, he said in a written reply.

Rai said 10,881 people engaged in the farming sector, 5,563 agricultural labourers, 5,318 farmers or cultivators, 4,806 people who used to cultivate their own land with or without the assistance of agricultural labourers, 512 people who used to cultivate on lease land or work on lease or on other’s land with or without the assistance of agricultural labourers also committed suicide in 2021.

Maoist violence

The incidents of Naxal violence have reduced by 77 per cent from 2,213 in 2010 to 509 in 2021, Rai, the Union minister of state for home, said in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Deaths of civilians and security forces have reduced by 85 per cent from the high of 1,005 in 2010 to 147 in 2021, Rai said, adding that the declining trend continued in 2022.

“Steadfast implementation of the national policy has resulted in consistent decline in violence in Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected areas. Incidents of LWE violence have reduced by 77 per cent from the high of 2,213 in 2010 to 509 in 2021,” he said, replying to a written question.

The minister said geographical spread of the violence had also significantly reduced and only 191 police stations of 46 districts reported LWE-related violence in 2021 compared to 465 police stations of 96 districts in 2010.