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Impact Of Peasant Suicides On Women

Preliminary Findings of a Study

*By Ranjana Padhi *

13 October, 2009
*Countercurrents.org*

http://www.countercurrents.org/padhi131009.htm

The havoc caused by capitalist-intensive agriculture in a deeply traditional
and feudal society is borne out in the daily lives of women, dalits,
children, youth and the elderly. This study addresses the social
implications of the agrarian crisis and shows how the economic and social
realms are inextricably linked in the lived reality of peasant women. The
picture of the grinning Punjabi farmer in calendars was mere propaganda of
the Green Revolution as there’s depression, alienation and suicide written
on many young faces today. In this article, I share some preliminary
findings of a survey of women of 125 families across 10 districts of the
Malwa region – the region most affected by the agrarian crisis in Punjab.
This survey has been made possible with the active support and co-operation
of BKU Ekta (Ugrahan), Punjab Kisan Union and BKU Ekta (Dakonda).

The findings will show the aftermath of farmer suicides triggered by
indebtedness and other related reasons. Interviews have been held in 47
villages across the districts of Ferozepur, Muktsar, Bhatinda, Moga, Mansa,
Sangrur, Patiala, Ludhiana, Barnala and Faridkot. Approximately 40% of the
sample is of dalit landless agricultural labourers while the rest are
largely small and marginal peasants. 80% of those who committed suicide are
between age 21 and 50 – the most productive years in a person’s life. There
are also 4 suicides of women; and a number of cases where double or even
triple suicides have happened in a single day. The mode of suicide is
consumption of pesticide in 70% case. Since agriculture is per se based on
family labour with the household economy being an integral part of the
agricultural economy, these interviews of mothers, wives and other female
relatives reveals the total number of affected people to be 595 i.e., five
times the number of suicides. Of this total, the percentage of dependents
(below 18 and above 60) forms 55%.

The sheer burden of managing the needs and demands of fatherless families
takes its toll on women in the form of depression and other health problems
caused by the overwhelming psychological pressure of grinding poverty. And
most importantly, women’s economic activities in tending to livestock,
fodder collection, and doing all kinds of work within the house to make ends
met are still not accorded the status of labour. Housework, childcare and
nursing of the elderly become more arduous and uphill in the face of an
agrarian crisis that has finally left women with all the traditional
responsibilities in families without any semblance of protection.

The restriction on women’s mobility restricts almost all Jat Sikh women from
taking on wage work. It is the Majhabi, Ramdasia and Ravidasia Sikh women
who work on daily wages largely and seem proud of it too. A 65 year-old Jat
Sikh woman who has nobody to look after her has defied caste norms and
resorted to wage work by picking cowdung for Rs 450 per month. Seasonal
labour like picking gaajar and muli or cotton picking fetches Rs 50-60 per
day. Most get such work for a maximum of two to three months a year. The
widow’s pension of Rs 250/- per month given by the Punjab government seems a
mockery in today’s times and even this paltry amount does not reach many for
months on end! Over 65% women are engaged in work pertaining to livestock
and fodder collection. Household expenses are met by selling milk to local
shops or collected by Nestle or Verka agents in some areas. They are able to
make Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 per month. Even while in deep anxiety to make ends
meet through any other work available like tailoring and weaving, 94% of the
women are engaged in intense domestic labour and 54% in caring and nursing
the elderly. It is women who are somehow running these fatherless families
against all odds as the institutions of marriage and family seem unable to
offer even the semblance of support it is traditionally meant to.

The devaluation of women in Punjab is most evident in its declining sex
ratio. As per the 2001 census data, it is 876 females per 1,000 males while
the national average is 933. The poor in Punjab are paying a heavy price in
the form of dowry; many suicides are related either directly or indirectly
to increased indebtedness because of dowry. Even families where suicides
have taken place, the minimum expectation of dowry was Rs 2 lakhs among Jat
Sikhs while amongst the landless it was over Rs 60,000. While 74% of
families in the sample are in debt for agricultural or housebuilding
purposes, these debts are often related to social practices like dowry or
health care and surgeries. Of the 46% of families who have used loans for
dowry and marriage, 89% are landless labourers and small and marginal
farmers.

Of the 36% families who have used loan money for health reasons, 82% have
resorted to private health care for surgeries involving stones in the gall
bladder or kidney, accidents, hysterectomies, eye surgeries, hernia – what
should be available in public hospitals as a basic right to any citizen.
Incidences of stomach cancer -caused by the heavy presence of pesticides in
the ground water and on cotton crops - and heart problems caused by intense
mental stress involve huge expenses exceeding 1 or 2 lakhs at times. Most
people resort to traveling to Bikaner for free cancer treatment by traveling
in a local train, which is now popularly called Cancer Train.

While 14% women agreed they get some sort of support from their mother’s
families or in-laws, a clear 86% said there’s no support from anywhere. Lack
of sleep is faced by 47% women in the sample while anxiety with or without
reason is experienced by 67%. Fear and nervousness accompanied by
palpitations in the chest is experienced by 16% while 35% complained of
fatigue and intense physical weakness.

The biggest concern of most women is the future of the children. Women are
entering fresh loans to somehow provide a decent education to children while
the even poorer families see a higher rate of school drop outs. A rigid
caste structure characterized by an invincible pride of being landowning Jat
Sikhs prevents many young people from stepping out of agriculture while the
prospects of employment seem bleak because there has been little or no
growth in the secondary and tertiary sectors in Punjab. A majority of the
youth in villages visited suffer from drug addiction, helping themselves to
dubious supplies of allopathic drugs. Young girls are seen a responsibility
by mothers and brothers – whose marriage often entails sale of land or fresh
debts even after a suicide has taken place in the family. For mothers who
are barely in control of their own lives, a decent marriage of a daughter is
the only aspiration. Internalizing and living the ramifications of
patriarchal ideology thus leads to the reproduction of subordination in the
next generation of women. At times of such economic crisis, the devaluation
of women and women’s labour is further worsened as daring to dream beyond
the existing reality becomes impossible when mass suicides are happening.

Ranjana Padhi is a feminist activist based in Delhi.
Conatct email id: *ranjanapadhi at yahoo.co.uk*