35,950 students died by suicide between 2019-21: Govt tells Parliament
The government said there is no information regarding the number of SC, ST students who died by suicide due to social discrimination in the country
A total of 35,950 students died by suicide in the country between 2019 and 2021, the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment informed Parliament on Tuesday.
Responding to a question asked by Janata Dal (United) member in Lok Sabha regarding the number of Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students who died by suicide due to social discrimination in the country, minister of state for social justice and empowerment Abbaiah Narayanaswamy said there is “no information regarding the number of SC, ST students committed suicides due to the social discrimination in the country”.
However, the minister said as per the data maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the number of suicides among students increased from 10,335 in 2019, to 12,526 in 2020, and 13,089 in 2021.
Responding further to the query on what steps have been taken in the country to prevent social discrimination, Narayanaswamy said that the department of higher education has established counseling cells and various mechanisms such as SC/ST students’ cells, equal opportunity cells, students’ grievance cells, students’ grievance committee, and liaison officers in educational institutions across the country.
“Further, the Protection of Civil Rights (PCR) Act 1955, that prescribes punishment for enforcement of any disability arising from the practice of ‘untouchability’, and the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) (Prevention of Atrocities) (PoA) Act, 1989, is in force to prevent the commission of offenses of atrocities against members including students of SCs and STs,” he added.