CHENNAI: On account of the World Suicide Prevention Day observed on September 10, there are calls to repeal Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code which awards penal provisions for attempting to end one’s life. While Magsaysay award-winning journalist P Sainath described it as a ‘symbol of our stupidity’, former West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi called it a ‘callous and anachronistic’ legal provision and noted that most countries had done away with such a rule.This was at the Silver Jubilee celebrations organised by SNEHA, a not-for-profit organisation involved with suicide intervention, held in the city on Saturday. Despite efforts by such organisations, percentage of suicides has risen, noted Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar, founder, SNEHA. Number of suicides have more than doubled in the last two decades, she said. Meanwhile, P Sainath said the increase in suicide rates was largely because of farmer suicides. Mounting debt and a disproportionate growth in income were the reasons for the increasing percentage of farmers in the total suicide numbers in the country, he added. The cost of cultivation had increased by five times in the last decade in Vidharba district, he explained, but the income had not risen proportionately. This had led to starvation, indebtedness, loss of dignity, which was also a cause for growing number of suicides. Noting that the issue of hunger could be addressed by providing a Universal Public Distribution System, he said exorbitant estimates said it would cost the country `90,000 crore, which was nearly the amount the Indian government had given corporates as tax concessions in the previous budget.Gopalkrishna Gandhi, in his address, had noted that affluence, literacy and power were not necessary deterrents in an urge to end one’s life. Suicide rates are high in a country like Norway that is wealthy, and in a state like Kerala where literacy rates are high, he observed.In her speech, Dr Lakshmi had stressed on the need to galvanise the government to take action towards repealing Section 309, which prescribed punishment for those attempting suicide. Also present at the event were Nalli Kuppuswamy, president of SNEHA, and Gayathri, its director.
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