Abstract:
India is a country that is widely famous for its agriculture throughout the world. But the sad
plight of our country lies in the fact that here farmers face too many problems. Agrarian distress
is widespread in India. It affects the marginalised segment, which accounts for more than half
of all farmers engaging in agricultural activity. They are trapped in a terrible circle of debt and
exploitation, with the only way out typically being suicide.
The children of farmers who killed themselves cope with acute mental trauma, and have been
experiencing classic symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, but they say very little. Even
worse, no one asks. In a place where mental health is still an alien concept, the fact that a
parent’s suicide can damage the child remains from the resulting mental trauma. Often left to
commit suicide or leave the children stranded.
Suicide rates in India have been steadily rising since the 1990s, and the country is now feeling
the effects, with farmers finally banding together and demanding their rights. Authorities have intervened and tackled distress mitigation in a variety of methods, including policy (NABARD, MNREGA), institutional (training centres), and/or establishing new practices. This thesis is an attempt to identify the role of architecture as a mediator to mitigate distress amongst the communities. Also, to investigate the regenerative and context-sensitive qualities of architecture in the life of farming communities in order to ensure their resilient future. The intention is to create the ambience of traditional Indian public spaces like chowks or a working street to foster maximum interactions and create a flexible use of space and its extension when required to uplift the community economically and bring them back to the mainstream with dignity.
