Taproot creates TOI's Phase II campaign; highlights farmer suicides

Every half an hour one Indian farmer commits suicide owing to crop failures, drought and debt. At last count, over 300,000 resigned to fate and decided to end their lives. But these figures are only the tip of the iceberg. Chilling as it may seem, the real problem wasn’t those who had died. It was those they had left behind. The families of the deceased; over a million starving women, children and elderly people, with no source of income. The government undertook measures to prevent this epidemic, albeit a little too late. And the rest of the country either did not know enough about the issue, or just couldn't care less. While nothing could bring back the dead, the living surely deserved a chance.

The awareness campaign began in April 2013 with an exhibition. The traffic for this exhibition was driven by a print and outdoor communication campaign. As part of the communication, 12 portraits of dead farmers were created using dry, burnt hay. These portraits were displayed and auctioned and the proceeds from each portrait were given to the families of the deceased.

Thanks to an overwhelming response to the initial phase, the second phase of the campaign got launched a few days back. The second phase broke out with a 2 minute long TV commercial, which is also a part of a digital campaign that got implemented around the same time. Along with the television message, innovative hoardings have been planned in different cities, starting with Mumbai in the days to come. Followed by a print campaign and a second round of exhibition planned at Feb end in Nagpur, The whole agenda of the campaign is to have more and more people wake up to the issue and generate sufficient funds for the hugely affected farmer community,

All proceeds go towards helping the community learn alternative means of livelihood and to support the families of the bereaved. The initiative has been carried out with able support from Samaj Sevak Charitable Trust an NGO working for several years for the same cause, thereby ensuring the funds reach those rightfully in need. The initiative has also gained support from NABARD (The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) to ensure effective implementation of all its programs.

“The objective of this campaign is to raise awareness of this issue so that steps are taken to support the farmers. In addition the campaign will also attempt to provide an alternative source of income  to the farmers families that have been affected." said Rahul Kansal, Executive President, Bennett Coleman & Co. Ltd. 

Vivek Khilare, Seceratery & Div. Head, Samaj Sevak Charitable Trust said “India’s economic strength comes from the farmers and all that they produce. Close to 60% of people are still directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture. For centuries, the entire nation has been heavily reliant on the farmers. So it’s only right that now when they are suffering, we try and do everything from donations to awareness programs to ease their pain and put an end to their sufferings.”

Taproot India's Santosh Padhi said “One Indian farmer committing suicide every 30 minutes is indeed a shocking piece of news. Our attempt is to make people realise the seriousness of the issue and request people to donate or spread the message. The more we spread the message the higher our chances of saving a few lives"