Debts and Suicide Video Lecture | Footprints Class 6: Book Solutions, Notes & Worksheets

rural livelihoods debts and suicides
what is debt there are many things you
wish to buy for yourself sometimes we
don't have enough money to buy the
things we want so what do we do
we borrow money from our parents or
friends with a promise that we will
repay the money in few days or months
this is called debt
debt is the money that you owe someone
which you have to pay back the person
who borrows money has to return it
within a given period of time many times
interest is charged on this money too
why farmers need to borrow you know that
farmers who do not own a lot of land
find it hard to earn money in fact in
India almost half of the farmers have
very small pieces of land or no land at
all
the landless farmers don't make a lot of
money they don't even have enough money
for their daily necessities so they have
to borrow money from moneylenders even
for their day-to-day living
even the farmers who have small land
pieces don't earn too much and on top of
that they have to spend for good quality
seeds fertilizers and pesticides to
protect the crop only then can they get
a good harvest
farmers with small land holdings do not
have money for these seeds fertilizers
and pesticides so they need to borrow
money for all these things they borrow
money and then they also have to pay
back with interest
clink and discuss what is dead why do
farmers need to borrow money
deeper into debt what happens if the
rainfall is not right or there are hail
storms the crop doesn't grow well or it
gets destroyed then they can't earn back
the money they spent in fact they have
to borrow more money
the amount of money that the farmers
have to borrow goes on increasing if the
crops fail the farmers are left with
nothing it becomes harder and harder for
them to repay the borrowed money
borrowing and lending whom do the
farmers borrow money from the
moneylenders the moneylenders don't give
the money just like that they always
take a collateral before lending let's
understand how that works
a collateral is something of equal or
more value that you have to give when
you borrow money so if you are borrowing
a little money you may keep some jewelry
as collateral for a big amount it could
be your whole house
why do you think moneylenders take a
collateral that is what the moneylenders
keep for themselves if you don't repay
your loan so if you don't repay the loan
you lose the collateral
so if the farmer had kept his farm or
house as collateral and can't pay back
his loan what happens the farmer loses
his farm
the money lender then owns it that's how
all loans work even when we take loans
the deal is the same
think and discuss what is the collateral
that you have to have when you take a
loan what happens to the collateral when
you can't pay back the loan
farmer troubles so if the farmer cannot
pay back his loans he slowly starts
losing his possessions his lands his
farms and as all this is happening the
debt of the farmer goes on increasing
further as he may need to borrow more
and the interest also increases
if someone in the family falls sick they
have to spend money for that if there is
a marriage in the family they borrow
heavily for that some farmers are even
addicted to alcohol and tobacco and
spend a lot on that
farmer suicides as all this goes on
happening the farmer gets very
frustrated he sees no way out of this
problem and living that life itself
becomes unbearable for him some farmers
who cannot bear it any further just kill
themselves to escape from the dead
the number of farmers committing suicide
is quite high 1/4 of all the farmers
suicides in India happen in Maharashtra
farmer suicides happen even in countries
like Sri Lanka USA UK Canada Australia
government support the government tries
to help the farmers in different ways
they try to improve the irrigation
system so that farmers will get enough
water for their crops this will help the
farmers get a better yield from their
farms
the government is trying to provide
insurance to farmers for their crops
that way if the crop fails the farmer
will get a certain amount from the
insurance company so though the farmer
may not make a good profit he won't go
into debt
for landless laboured the government has
a hundred days guaranteed employment
scheme any adult who registers for this
gets work for hundred days when there is
no farming activity this work is
provided within five kilometers of their
homes
think and discuss state three reasons
why farmers could go into debt
what is the reason some farmers in debt
commit suicides
think and discuss list any three things
according to you that farmers could do
to prevent getting into debt