Despite suicides, no helpline in place to counsel students
`50,000-`1 `7,000-`15,000 `2,000
The duration of coaching classes ranges from
1 to 2 years 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015* KOTA: Dozens of students at Kota’s coaching centres have committed suicide but the town still doesn’t have a helpline to guide and counsel students.
Around five years ago, a helpline centre named Hope Society was established in Jawahar nagar, where most of the institutes are located but it shut down because of administrative apathy.
The helpline was the brainchild of former Kota collector T Ravikant who got the institutes and a private psychiatrist to come together for the centre. Some of the students reasons for committing suicide include burden of stress, expectations and depression
FIVE YEARS AGO, A HELPLINE CENTRE WAS SET UP IN JAWAHAR NAGAR, BUT IT SHUT DOWN BECAUSE OF ADMINISTRATIVE APATHY
The institutes provided the money and Dr ML Agarwal identified the counsellors who ran the helpline.
Dr Agarwal said the helpline received phone calls from around 4,591 people, most of them students from the coaching centres.
“Due to lack of administrative support, the helpline closed earlier this year,” he said.
Kota district collector Dr Ravi Kumar Surpur said the administration will hold a meeting of representatives of coaching institutes, psychiatrists, administrative authorities, police and students soon to formulate an action plan on suicide prevention.
The coaching institutes under the aegis of the Competitive Education Youth Society (CEYS) are also planning a helpline for the students.
CEYS secretary Amit Gupta said the helpline would be started within a couple of months. “The helpline will have counsellors backed up by pschologists. It will be a 24x7 helpline,” he said.