'Rajasthan govt concerned about suicides among coaching institutes students'

KOTA (RAJASTHAN): The Rajasthan government is deeply concerned about the rising number of suicides among students of coaching institutes in Kota and is thinking of ways to check such deaths including regularisation of such centres, a state minister said today.

Rajasthan Technical and Higher Education Minister Kali Charan Saraf told reports here that the district collector of Kota had been directed to formulate guidelines in this regard in consultation with directors of coaching institutes.

"The coaching institutes in Kota have been asked to add recreational activities in their curriculum and provide psychological counseling to its students to help them deal stress better," Saraf said.

"All students are not of equal talent and merit. This should be understood by the parents before putting the burden of their dreams and aspirations on the kids. Proposals have been sought from Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh governments to formulate a policy on coaching institutes in the state," he added.

The minister, however, said he was unaware about the recent National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report which claimed that 45 suicides by coaching institute students were reported from Kota in 2014. "Around 10-11 suicides by the students in Kota are in my knowledge."

According to data released by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recently, Kota has registered 100 suicide cases in 2014 and 45 of them were coaching students.

The report mentions the stress of studies and failure in examination among the key causes of suicide among coaching students in Kota. Over 1.50 lakhs students are taking coaching in various coaching institutes in Kota the city that has made name as coaching hub of the country.