Watching my Father

Available for over a year

Farmers taking their own lives in India has been in the news for quite some time and this story is about how it has impacted on the mental health of communities. As too much rain or droughts continue to destroy crops making farmers unable to pay debts, families fear that their breadwinners could be the next to kill themselves. Children in many villages in the affected states don’t go to school and rather follow their fathers wherever they go to make sure that they don’t harm themselves. Schools have recorded increasing number of disturbed children who seek permission to go back home early in the day to see that everything is fine. A staggering 300,000 farmers have killed themselves in India over the past 20 years, and the highest was in Maharashtra state with 60,000. Navin Singh Khadka follows families in Marathwada, the worst hit district in the state that saw more than 400 farmers kill themselves last year. We hear from the poor and underprivileged who have all these years suffered silently in a society where illegal money-lenders, backed by politicians, still call the shots. All this not so far away from India’s financial capital Mumbai that also hosts the world renowned film industry Bollywood. The programme will also be a window to the social consequences of a water-stressed India in the wake of climate change. (Photo: Indian farmer drinking tea as he takes a break. Credit: Navin Singh Khadka)