Chennai: The Health Minister of Tamil Nadu on Friday expressed concern about the rising cases of suicide in the state. Health Minister Ma Subramanian said that “Following the rise in the number of suicides in Tamil Nadu, the state health department is planning to pass orders to stop the sales of cow dung powder, a commonly used fertilizer.”
Subramanian, according to the report, said that about 15 percent of the people – who have committed suicide, end their lives by hanging while many others consumed rat poison and fertilizers. Pointing out that of late, many have been consuming cow dung powder to end their lives.
Minister Subramanian further added that doctors have been finding it difficult to save the lives of the patients who had consumed cow dung powder as it contains both hazardous and toxic chemicals, as per the report.
According to a media report, cow dung powder is a mixture of cow dung with hazardous and toxic chemicals.
Tamil Nadu has recorded about 15,000 cases of suicides in a year, which is much higher than the number of accidents – 11,000 – that the state has recorded in a year.
The minister further said that “The state government would work with the agriculture department to bring in rules that would prevent sales of fertilizers to individuals.”