Editorial:
The latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau for the year 2010 hands out the ignominy of being the nation’s suicide capital to Sikkim. At 280 suicides recorded in 2010, Sikkim, with an astounding 45.9 suicides per lakh of population, has the highest suicide rate in the country.
And these are figures for suicides which got recorded as such. Given how common death by suicide has become in the State, most people in Sikkim would be aware by now that not every suicide gets registered as one. Given the low numbers [in absolute terms] one is dealing in here, it becomes obvious that should every suicide get recorded, the suicide rate [worked per lakh of population] would spike substantially, making the numbers even more distressing. Such distress should not be necessary any more to invite the attention of everyone concerned, should it? It is unanimously accepted that the Sikkimese society faces a major challenge in the growing tendency among its people to take their own lives, so rankings [in suicide rate lists] and statistics should not be required any more to shock people and their representatives into action. What should be making headlines and feeding public discourse should be the corrective action that is being planned. The public domain should not still be discussing the high incidence of suicides in Sikkim anymore because that has been an established fact for a while now and the outcry should instead be directed at building pressure on policy makers and people’s organisations to do something about it. That, unfortunately, is still not happening.
By now, the State should have set up a task force to study suicides and inform the next course of action on how to arrest the situation. It should also be recognised that suicides are a social challenge, and state intervention alone cannot suffice and will require extensive collaboration of the community and its representative organisations. Also, in the absence of adequate public pressure, the State intervention will end up being typically token and superficial. Given the nature of the challenge, what could prove to be even more effective is initiative. Should a group of professionals with adequate expertise agree to collaborate on assisting Sikkim in addressing the challenge of suicides, State support would obviously follow. These experts need not necessarily be from Sikkim and could be contacted and approached by NGOs and other civil society organisations based here which could play the role of the facilitator. Should a group here take up the issue in the right earnest, finding the experts will not be a difficult ask and should State endorsement and funding follow, Sikkim could finally begin the process of addressing the issue. One must bear in mind that while the NCRB might have placed Sikkim in the top position in as much as suicides are concerned, it is not an issue which will attract the Centre’s attention because when it looks at the figures, it will not be unduly disturbed by the numbers – 280 deaths by suicide in Sikkim against the 16,561 suicides in Tamil Nadu [population: 676.3 lakh]. So, when it comes to tackling suicides, it will have to be Sikkim and its people who will have to take the initiative.
The latest data released by the National Crime Records Bureau for the year 2010 hands out the ignominy of being the nation’s suicide capital to Sikkim. At 280 suicides recorded in 2010, Sikkim, with an astounding 45.9 suicides per lakh of population, has the highest suicide rate in the country.
And these are figures for suicides which got recorded as such. Given how common death by suicide has become in the State, most people in Sikkim would be aware by now that not every suicide gets registered as one. Given the low numbers [in absolute terms] one is dealing in here, it becomes obvious that should every suicide get recorded, the suicide rate [worked per lakh of population] would spike substantially, making the numbers even more distressing. Such distress should not be necessary any more to invite the attention of everyone concerned, should it? It is unanimously accepted that the Sikkimese society faces a major challenge in the growing tendency among its people to take their own lives, so rankings [in suicide rate lists] and statistics should not be required any more to shock people and their representatives into action. What should be making headlines and feeding public discourse should be the corrective action that is being planned. The public domain should not still be discussing the high incidence of suicides in Sikkim anymore because that has been an established fact for a while now and the outcry should instead be directed at building pressure on policy makers and people’s organisations to do something about it. That, unfortunately, is still not happening.
By now, the State should have set up a task force to study suicides and inform the next course of action on how to arrest the situation. It should also be recognised that suicides are a social challenge, and state intervention alone cannot suffice and will require extensive collaboration of the community and its representative organisations. Also, in the absence of adequate public pressure, the State intervention will end up being typically token and superficial. Given the nature of the challenge, what could prove to be even more effective is initiative. Should a group of professionals with adequate expertise agree to collaborate on assisting Sikkim in addressing the challenge of suicides, State support would obviously follow. These experts need not necessarily be from Sikkim and could be contacted and approached by NGOs and other civil society organisations based here which could play the role of the facilitator. Should a group here take up the issue in the right earnest, finding the experts will not be a difficult ask and should State endorsement and funding follow, Sikkim could finally begin the process of addressing the issue. One must bear in mind that while the NCRB might have placed Sikkim in the top position in as much as suicides are concerned, it is not an issue which will attract the Centre’s attention because when it looks at the figures, it will not be unduly disturbed by the numbers – 280 deaths by suicide in Sikkim against the 16,561 suicides in Tamil Nadu [population: 676.3 lakh]. So, when it comes to tackling suicides, it will have to be Sikkim and its people who will have to take the initiative.
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