LUDHIANA,

“Taking care of mental health of farming populace is crucial,” said Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), while addressing a meeting of University experts and sociologists working on suicide prevention activities. To avert farmers’ suicides, little work has been done on factors other than economic or agricultural, he observed. Psychological and behavioural aspects are neglected by and far, he said, while adding that the preventive measures should be addressed on both social and economic fronts.

Dr Dhillon announced that the PAU has started a novel action project ‘UTSHAH’ where it intends to proactively address the issue of farmers’ suicides by taking into account the behavioural, psychological and cultural perspectives. The project is based on the premise that sounds social and psychological mind set-up helps one to cope with the adverse situations in a better way, he added. Thus, many suicides can be averted, he said.

Under the project, PAU will work for capacity building of farming families through a positive transformation of rural youth. The training will include empowerment of farmers in terms of battling negative thoughts, enabling them with coping skills, financial literacy, etc. They will be exhorted to lead a life of simplicity away from drugs, cultivate positive thinking, shun pomp and show on marriages/social functions, etc. The project, operated by the Department of Agricultural Journalism, Languages and Culture, PAU, will train the rural youth in volunteering for counselling the farmers in distress. Thus, the University will endeavour to infuse the spirit to fight back among the farmers of Punjab in view of current agrarian distress; and train about 200 rural youth as paraprofessionals to provide first aid by counselling the farmers in acute distress.

Dr Gurinder Kaur Sangha, Dean, College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, said, “Providing scientifically developed peer support system for farmers in distress will help them in coming out of distress and become pillars of support for others.?” This will further help in building of human capital formation in rural areas which is essential for the process of growth and development, she added.

Dr Sarabjeet Singh, Principal Investigator of the project, said, “Peer support is a unique form of service based on mutual respect, sharing of experiences and empathy.” Effective self- management is often short-lived, he stated. Peers can provide leadership and serve as role models for sustained behavioural change, he added. The modes of agricultural production have improved to an advanced level but the impact on the cultural perspective of the rural masses is still too less, he pointed out. It is anticipated that economic development may not be sustained due to limited or negligible social development, he said. Ever increasing farmers’ suicides in the country are a cause of serious concern.