The Supreme Court heard the student suicide case on Friday. During this, the Supreme Court also termed the cases of student suicides happening in Kota as serious and reprimanded the Rajasthan government. The bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan in the Supreme Court said, ‘So far this year 14 students have committed suicide in Kota. What are you doing about this as a state? Why are students committing suicide only in Kota? As a state, have you not given any thought to this?’ The Supreme Court made this comment during the hearing of the case of finding the body of a girl student in Kota and the suicide of a student of IIT Kharagpur. The Supreme Court has sought a reply from the Rajasthan government in this matter. The next hearing will be on July 14. What is the whole matter On May 4, just hours before the NEET exam, the body of a 17-year-old girl was found in a hostel in Kota. On May 4 itself, a 22-year-old student studying in IIT Kharagpur hanged himself in the hostel room. The Supreme Court had taken suo motu cognizance of both these cases on 6 May. Regarding the IIT Kharagpur suicide, the court had said on 14 May that it is taking cognizance only to find out whether the administration has registered an FIR by following the court’s instructions issued in the case ‘Amit Kumar and others vs Union of India and others’. At the same time, regarding the suicide in Kota, the court had sought an answer as to why an FIR was not registered. The bench of Justice JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan had heard this. Along with this, the court had also directed the central government to deposit Rs 20 lakh in two days for the formation of the National Task Force (NTF) to be formed for mental health and suicide prevention. Courtroom LIVE Supreme Court: What are you doing? Why are these children committing suicide only in Kota? Have you not thought anything about this as a state? Lawyer (Rajasthan Government): An SIT was formed for such suicide cases. Supreme Court: Why was no FIR registered after the student committed suicide? Lawyer (Rajasthan Government): The matter is being investigated and the SIT is aware of all the cases of suicides. Supreme Court: How many students have committed suicide in Kota so far? Lawyer (Rajasthan Government): 14 Supreme Court: Why are these students committing suicide? Lawyer (Rajasthan Government): The task force formed by the Supreme Court needs some time to prepare the report. Supreme Court: You have committed contempt of the court’s judgment. Why have you not registered an FIR yet? The student was not living in the accommodation provided by the coaching. In November 2024 itself, she left the hostel and was living with her parents. But it was the duty of the police to register an FIR in this case and investigate. The officers of the concerned police station have not lived up to their duty. They have not followed the court’s instructions. 17 student suicides in 2024, 26 in 2023 Talking about the previous years, in the year 2024, 17 students living in Kota committed suicide. Last year, 2 suicides took place in the month of January and 3 in the month of February. At the same time, in the year 2023, a total of 26 cases of student suicide were reported in Kota. ‘Children are not taught to handle failure’ MP Suicide Prevention Task Force member and psychiatrist Dr Satyakant Trivedi said about the student suicides happening in Kota, ‘There is no single reason for any suicide. All the children are giving the same exam. In such a situation, mixed factors are responsible for suicide. This includes genetics, social reasons, peer pressure, parental expectations, education system, everything. Dr Trivedi says that somewhere we fail to teach children how to deal with stress, rejection or failure. Today the child has started believing that his academic achievement is bigger than his existence. The child is not ready to give up preparation, he is ready to give up life. Society has glorified competitive examinations too much, due to which the child feels that I will be complete only when I crack an exam. Guidelines for coaching centers in 2024, but suicides did not stop In view of the increasing cases of suicides of students, incidents of fire in coaching centers and lack of facilities in coaching centers, the Ministry of Education issued guidelines for coaching institutes. To prevent student suicides in India, the government made these rules: 1. Mental Healthcare Act, 2017 As per this act, a person suffering from mental disorders has the full right to get treatment for it and live a life with dignity. 2. Anti-Ragging Measures As per the order of the Supreme Court, all educational institutes will have to file an FIR with the police on receiving a complaint of ragging. In the year 2009, the University Grants Commission i.e. UGC issued regulations to prevent incidents of ragging in higher education institutes. 3. Student Counseling System To solve problems like student anxiety, stress, homesickness, fear of failure, UGC asked universities to set up a student counseling system in 2016. 4. Gatekeepers Training for Suicide Prevention by NIMHANS, SPIF NIMHANS i.e. National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience and SPIF i.e. Suicide Prevention India Foundation provide this training. Through this, a network of gatekeepers is created that can identify suicidal people. 5. NEP 2020 Teachers should focus on socio-emotional learning of students and community involvement in the school system. Also, there should be social workers and counselors in schools. ————– Click here to send questions now Read more such news… UPSC CSE Prelims on 25 May: Take care of time management, do not read new notes; Know last minute tips of toppers-experts UPSC Civil Civil Service Prelims Exam 2025 will be held on Sunday 25 May. There will be two papers in it Read full news…
