Indian
Express: Ahmedabad: Wednesday, October 17, 2012.
Releasing a
booklet on suicide figures in Gujarat which he said were based on RTI replies,
state Congress president Arjun Modhwadia on Tuesday claimed that 80 per cent of
the total 37,248 people who committed suicide in the state during the last 10
years were below the age of 40.
He also
claimed that 7,062 of them were farmers.
The booklet,
titled End of lives rise in the suicide in the so-called developed society,
why? was released by Modhwadia in the presence of noted sociologist Gaurang
Jani and social analyst Dr Vidhyut Joshi.
Modhwadia
said the trend of committing suicides in Gujarat significantly increased during
the last few years under the BJP rule due to lack of attention and negligence
of administration to look into problems of common men and small groups and due
to financial crisis.
Explaining
the figures, Modhwadia said that in terms of density of population, the rate of
suicides was maximum in Saurashtra and North Gujarat.
According to
Modhwadia, in past 60 days, more than 35 farmers have committed suicide due to
crop failure.
Modhwadia
said the figures that were collected after a lot of efforts and struggle from
the offices of District Superintendents of Police and Police Commissioners show
that every day, 10 people committed suicide in Gujarat in the past 10 years.
Speaking on
the occasion, Gaurang Jani said, “Rate of suicides is a mirror of any society.
And these figures show a sorry state of affairs.”
“The present
government is giving dreams to the youngsters. However, it does not show them
how to fulfill those dreams and which results in suicides following
frustration,” he said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
