Kill this bill
7 Sept 2014 4:32 AM IST
India has been named the suicide capital of the world by the World Health Organization. With 2,58,075 victims, India is one amongst the many Asian countries which are plagued by the menace of ending one’s life. But any talk of suicide has tongues naturally wagging about the lack of nerve in people who take the extreme step, however irrelevant that debate might be.
To clear the air, suicide is considered a psychiatric and neurobiological illness and is not related to one’s lack of nerve to hang in when it matters the most. However, we in general remain so oblivious to such illnesses that we coldly term a suicide as just another death. We never delve to look into the real picture; a picture, to which the Government of India should and must respond. India has one psychiatrist per every 2,00,000 people; which means even if one unfortunate doctor comes to cure each of his patients, it is for certain that he may himself lose his mental state of balance.
The government, previous or current, has still not woken up to the urgency of growing mental illness amongst our rural and urban disaffected. The highly unfortunate dearth of medical minds is something that still doesn’t ratttle them enough. As matters of fact, suicides in India are not only an urban phenomenon but they occur in regions which face massive droughts, failure of crops, lack of irrigation and absolutely no consultation for managing their families better. The outcome is a hanging noose around the neck of the poor farmer, who takes his life thinking his family would be extended the compensation. But even then, no respite is shown and suicides, whether by the poor or rich, are left unaddressed. Suicides in cities are still reported but those in villages are swept beneath the high-decibel screech of agenda setters. Why?
To clear the air, suicide is considered a psychiatric and neurobiological illness and is not related to one’s lack of nerve to hang in when it matters the most. However, we in general remain so oblivious to such illnesses that we coldly term a suicide as just another death. We never delve to look into the real picture; a picture, to which the Government of India should and must respond. India has one psychiatrist per every 2,00,000 people; which means even if one unfortunate doctor comes to cure each of his patients, it is for certain that he may himself lose his mental state of balance.
The government, previous or current, has still not woken up to the urgency of growing mental illness amongst our rural and urban disaffected. The highly unfortunate dearth of medical minds is something that still doesn’t ratttle them enough. As matters of fact, suicides in India are not only an urban phenomenon but they occur in regions which face massive droughts, failure of crops, lack of irrigation and absolutely no consultation for managing their families better. The outcome is a hanging noose around the neck of the poor farmer, who takes his life thinking his family would be extended the compensation. But even then, no respite is shown and suicides, whether by the poor or rich, are left unaddressed. Suicides in cities are still reported but those in villages are swept beneath the high-decibel screech of agenda setters. Why?
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