Concerned over the rising number of students committing suicide in Kota, the Rajasthan government has called Kota district collector Dr Ravi Kumar Surpur and stakeholders in the coaching industry for a meeting in Jaipur to bring about a resolution to the issue.
The state government called for the meet after two students committed suicide on two consecutive days in the city.
Dr Surpur said that the guidelines for the coaching institutes and hostels have been laid by the district administration in the recent past so it will take some time for witnessing its impact on ground.
“More discussions and more concrete measures would come out through such meeting”, he said, adding that the meeting, which would be presided over by Rajasthan chief secretary CS Rajan, has been convened on December 10, in which SP Kota City SS Godara would also be present.
In October, the district collector had convened an interactive workshop of students, coaching institutes, psychiatrists, hostel owners and other stakeholders, following which, the district administration had issued guidelines in order to check the number of suicides. Coaching institutes were also asked to submit compliance report within 3 weeks time.
More than 100,000 teenagers head to coaching institutes in Kota every year with dreams of cracking the highly competitive entrance exams.
{{/usCountry}}More than 100,000 teenagers head to coaching institutes in Kota every year with dreams of cracking the highly competitive entrance exams.
{{/usCountry}}The rigorous study schedule, high-pressure environment, competitive exams and stress of living alone take a toll on many students, pushing some of them to commit suicide.
According to Kota Police data, 72 students have committed suicide in the past five years, with 11 in the past six months.
Kota has about 40 big coaching centres with a thriving Rs 2,000 crore industry, but only around 25% make it to the premier engineering or medical schools.