-By Rishabh Gupta 6A

There are more than 500,000 villages in India. These settlements range from tiny hamlets of thatched huts to larger settlements of tileroofed stone and brick houses. Most villages are small; nearly 80 percent have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. Even then, 80% of Indian population live in the villages.

Indian villages are often underdeveloped and therefore do not have many job opportunities. More than 50% people in villages work in the agriculture department- growing crops and working in fields. Other jobs include teacher, shopkeeper, moneylender, and various small jobs.

Farming in Indian villages provide more jobs to people than any other economical sector. People in villages inherit lands from their forefathers which keeps dwindling with every generation it passes. The villagers work on the land and grow crops. Villagers with no work often go to farmers with big farms and work on their land.

Instead of all family members doing different jobs to earn more money, the complete family works on one patch of land and earns the same as 2 people could have worked and earned.

(a) Population Pressure (b) Small and Fragmented Land Holdings (c) Inadequate Irrigation Facilities (d) Depleted Soils (e) Storage of food grains (f) Farm Implements

With a figure of at least 14,027 in 2011, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the total number of farm suicides since 1995 has touched 2,70, 940 The major causes were this: India was transforming rapidly into a primarily urban, industrial society with industry as its main source of income; the government and society had begun to be unconcerned about the condition of the countryside; in the absence of any responsible counselling either from the government or society there were many farmers who did not know how to survive in the changing economy. Such stresses pushed many to commit suicide.

The average monthly income of the Indian farmer was worked out at Rs 2,115 in 2003-04 by the National Sample Survey Organisation. That was the last time the NSSO computed the farm income because the government felt too embarrassed by the existing ground realities. For Punjab, the most agriculturally flourishing state, the monthly income of a farming family is Rs 3,200. The only other two States where farmers income is more than the national average are Jammu & Kashmir and Tamil Nadu.

The condition of farmers in our country is a testament of the fact that in looking towards the west, we have forgotten to look within our own boundaries. The government is so busy helping our country, trying to see the big picture that the smaller and finer details just slip by. Our country cannot flourish unless the people are happy, and looking at the farmers in the rural area, that does not appear to be the case.