Unemployment is killing youths at a higher speed now. According to a written reply in Rajya Sabha, the government said 3,548 people had died by suicide due to unemployment in 2020. The first pandemic year 2020 has seen the highest number of suicides in unemployed people. In 2020, it crossed the 3000 mark for the first time. This data has been provided by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
Minister of State (Home) Nityanand Rai had said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha that unemployment has taken 3548 lives in the year 2020. In a written reply he also said that between 2018 & 2020 a total of 16091 people has died by suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness. The year 2018 saw 4970 suicides due to indebtedness, 2019 saw 5908 and the year 2020 saw 5213 suicides due to bankruptcy or indebtedness.
Highest death in a year due to unemployment
According to NCRB data, the highest number of suicides due to unemployment in 2020 was reported from Karnataka (720), followed by Maharashtra (625), Tamil Nadu (336), Assam (234), and Uttar Pradesh (227).
In suicides due to bankruptcy or indebtedness, Maharashtra, which reports the highest number of farmer suicides each year, topped the list in 2020 with 1,341 deaths, followed by Karnataka (1,025), Telangana (947), Andhra Pradesh (782), and Tamil Nadu (524). Barring Tamil Nadu, the other states usually account for the most farmer suicides.
According to NCRB data, suicides due to unemployment has been increasing over the last few years – the toll was 2,851 in 2019; 2,741 in 2018; 2,404 in 2017; 2,298 in 2016; 2,723 in 2015; and 2,207 in 2014. The total number of suicides among the unemployed during the BJP-led government at the Centre (2014-2020) was 18,772, an average of 2,681 deaths per year. In the last seven years of the UPA government, the number stood at 15,322 – 2,090 in 2013; 1,731 in 2012; 2,333 in 2011; 2,222 in 2010; 2,472 in 2009; 2,080 in 2008; and 2,394 in 2007 – at an average of 2,188 deaths per year.