On Saturday, a 16-year-old NEET candidate allegedly hanged herself from a ceiling fan at her uncle's residence at the Kota Thermal Power Plant colony. This incident is the fifth suicide case by a student in Kota, Rajasthan this month and the tenth this year so far.
5 suicides this month and 52 in 4 years is a gruesome number of student suicides to have been reported from Kota, Rajasthan. Going deeper into the issue, career counselors and psychiatrists urge educating parents of students, a mandate.
Psychiatrist Dr. Mirchandani Dayal based in Pune, Maharashtra said “Screening a child at an early age and teaching stress management is necessary. Such programs do exist but not as widely as they should be organized by schools.”
He added, “Social-level reform is the need of the hour to understand every child's potential and direct them accordingly. With the invasion of AI, huge shakedowns are foreseen in every career stream. Merely cracking IIT and NEET should not be the end goal of these children.”
Saikat Chatterjee, a parent from Durgapur, West Bengal said “We as parents should understand our child’s potential and also be empathetic if they do not qualify. My child is dearer to me than the career she cracks.”
Saikat also added, “I counseled my child every time I felt her grades upset her. My wife made regular trips to see her in Kota just for her to know we support her regardless of the grades she gets.”
Jagdish Choudhary, owner of a chain of hostels in Kota said “We keep a close eye on the students living with us. We inform parents as soon as we see them behaving differently. My wife also brings them sweets and homemade food once every 2 weeks followed by a conversation about their schedules.”
Jagdish claims Kota and its people try very hard to make these students who come from across the country feel at home. It upsets to hear that Kota is called the student suicide capital of the country despite their vigorous efforts.
