Taproot creates The Times of India’s live billboard to highlight the disturbing farmer suicide issue
More than 300,000 farmers in India have committed suicide till date, plagued by crop failure, drought and debt. 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 took steps to prevent more suicides, but it was a case of too little, too late and the rest of the country either did not know enough about the issue, or care enough. While nothing could bring back the dead, surely the living deserved a chance. This campaign by Taproot India supported by The Times of India in association with Samaj Sevak Charitable trust and NABARD asked people to make donations to make a difference.
To generate some awareness and donations hoardings were booked at prime high-traffic locations in cities. Photographs of deceased farmers were kept ready with garlands over them. (When someone dies in India the photograph of the deceased is hung on a wall with a garland over the photograph).
Right in the middle of a busy day, these photographs were put up on the hoardings in real time, one every half an hour, to signify the frequency with which farmers killed themselves.
The innovative outdoor caught the attention of passersby in a big way. Many more people logged in on to the website and donated as well.
The money collected via the website and through online/tv/offline merchandising is being used to help bereaved families and to teach the farming community alternative means of livelihood,