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NCRB report on accidental deaths suicides

Topics Covered: Issues related to health.

NCRB report on accidental deaths, suicides:

Context:

Report was released recently by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

  • Overall, the report shows that the number of suicide cases and accidental deaths registered an increase across the country last year from the 2018 figures.

Report on Suicides in the country:

  1. Suicides in the country went up slightly from 1,34,516 to 1,39,123.
  2. Of the 97,613 male suicides, the most were of daily wage earners (29,092), followed by self-employed persons (14,319) and the unemployed (11,599).
  3. Of the 41,493 female, over half were housewives.
  4. Most suicides by unemployed persons were in Kerala at 14% (1,963), followed by 10.8% in Maharashtra, 9.8% in Tamil Nadu, 9.2% in Karnataka and 6.1% in Odisha.
  5. Most suicides by those in business activities were in Maharashtra (14.2%), Tamil Nadu (11.7%), Karnataka (9.7%), West Bengal (8.2%) and Madhya Pradesh (7.8%).
  6. The suicide rate in cities (13.9%) was higher compared to the all-India average.
  7. Most cases of mass/family suicides were reported from Tamil Nadu (16), followed by Andhra Pradesh (14), Kerala (11) and Punjab (9) and Rajasthan (7).

Report on Accidental deaths:

  1. Accidental deaths in the country increased by 2.3%. Compared with 4,11,824 in 2018, the figure stood at 4,21,104 last year.
  2. The most casualties of 30.9% were reported in the 30-45 age group, followed by 26% in the 18-30 age group.
  3. Maharashtra reported the highest deaths (70,329), amounting to nearly one-sixth of the total figure.
  4. A total of 8,145 deaths was due to the causes attributable to forces of nature, including 35.3% due to lightning, 15.6% by heat/sun stroke and 11.6% deaths in floods.
  5. Most deaths (400) due to lightning was reported each from Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, followed by Jharkhand (334) and Uttar Pradesh (321).
  6. The major causes were ‘traffic accidents’ (43.9%), ‘sudden deaths’ (11.5%), ‘drowning’ (7.9%), ‘poisoning’ (5.1%), ‘falls’ (5.1%) and ‘accidental fire’ (2.6%). A majority (57.2%) of deaths was in the age groups of 18-45 years.

About NCRB:

Set -up in 1986 under the Ministry of Home Affairs to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.

Set up based on the recommendations of the National Police Commission (1977-1981) and the MHA’s Task Force (1985).

NCRB brings out the annual comprehensive statistics of crime across the country (‘Crime in India’ report).

  • Being published since 1953, the report serves as a crucial tool in understanding the law and order situation across the country.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

  1. NCRB- establishment and functions.
  2. Crimes in India report is released by?
  3. Highlights of the recent report on accidental deaths and suicides.

Mains Link:

Throw a light on suicide rates in India based on the recent report published by the NCRB and suggest ways to minimise these numbers.

Sources: the Hindu.