Over 16,000 people committed suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness while 9,140 people ended their lives due to unemployment between 2018 and 2020, the Ministry of Home Affairs informed the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. As many as 9,140 people ended their lives due to unemployment, the highest number of such cases — 3,548 were reported in 2020, the year a lockdown was imposed in the country due to COVID-19 and large scale job losses and economic slowdown were reported in many sectors.

Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said 5,213 people committed suicide due to bankruptcy or indebtedness in 2020, 5,908 in 2019 and 4,970 in 2018. A total of 3,548 people committed suicide due to unemployment in 2020, 2,851 in 2019 and 2,741 in 2018, he said replying to a written question.

Replying to a question by Samajwadi Party’s Sukhram Singh Yadav, the Minister said the government had launched a number of programmes for employment and income generation for the citizens such as the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) to incentivise employers for creation of new jobs along with social security benefits and restoration of employment.

“The National Career Service (NCS) Project for job seekers and employers for job-matching in a dynamic, efficient and responsive manner has a repository of career content for job seekers,” it said.

The reply also cited programmes such as Make in India, Digital India, Swachh Bharat Mission, Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, Housing for All, infrastructure development and industrial corridors which have the potential to generate employment opportunities.

Those in distress or having suicidal tendencies could seek help and counselling by calling any of the numbers listed in this link.