The rising incidents of suicides of students in Kota district of Rajasthan have now become a matter of concern. The state government on Monday conducted a meeting over the issue of increasing suicide cases among students in Kota and took many important decisions.
According to the officials, government has directed coaching institutes to add 'half day study, half day fun', identifying students with suicidal tendencies and providing psychological counseling one day a week to stop the increasing suicide cases of students.
Govt formed a committee to vigil suicide cases
The officials further said that the meeting was held through video conference under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary (Higher and Technical Education) Bhawani Singh Detha. Apart from officials, representatives of coaching institutes and hostel associations also participated in the meeting.
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Concerned over the increasing suicide incidents in Kota, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has constituted a committee for this and Detha has been appointed as the chairman of the committee. The committee will also visit Kota soon. Other decisions taken in the meeting included asking coaching institutes to form a committee of subject experts in an effort to reduce the syllabus burden on students.
Coaching institutes to conduct motivational sessions
The coaching institutes have also been asked to conduct online motivational sessions by experts and upload it on social media for the benefit of all students. Officials said that it was decided in the meeting that the coaching institutes would conduct sessions like 'Half Day Study, Half Day Fun' every Wednesday. The meeting was attended by Kota District Collector O P Bunkar, Superintendent of Police Sharad Chowdhary, Additional Collector (Administration) Rajkumar Singh and Additional Superintendent of Police Bhagwat Singh.
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Students' Police Station
A proposal has also been given by the Kota police administration to the government in case of students suicide case. The administration has suggested the government to set up a student police station, as the tourist police station is also works as women's police station, similarly a separate police station will be set up for the grievances of the students. A senior police official told that the help of IIM and IIT professors are also being taken regarding this and will soon find a solution.
More than 2 lakh students every year come to Kota to prepare for competitive exams like JEE for admission in engineering colleges and NEET for admission in medical colleges. Earlier this Sunday, two students had given their lives in a span of 4 hours. According to officials, 23 students preparing for competitive exams have committed suicide in Kota district so far in the year 2023 and this is the largest number for any year so far. Last year this figure was 15.
(With PTI Inputs)
