18-Year-Old’s Tragic Demise Marks 22nd Student Suicide This Year In Kota’s Educational Hub

According to reports, an 18-year-old lad who had arrived in Kota, Rajasthan, to study for the JEE Mains exam in order to be admitted to the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), committed suicide on Tuesday evening. As a result, there have been four more student suicides this month, bringing the total for this year in the education centre to 22.

According to a report by India Today, the child, identified as Valmiki Jangid from Bihar’s Gaya, had been residing in Kota’s Mahavir Nagar neighbourhood since last year. He was enrolled in a coaching programme to study for the JEE Mains exam.

Another student, Manish Prajapat, who died by suicide a few days prior, was recognised. The student was studying for the JEE at a private tutoring facility in Kota and was from Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh. Police said they did not discover a suicide note at the location.

Top government officials in the nation have taken notice of the rising number of suicide cases at the centre of education.

Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, voiced concern about the rise in student suicides in Kota while attending the opening of the state’s “Yuva Mahapanchayat” last Saturday in Jaipur.
Gehlot encouraged parents not to put pressure on their children to enrol in a certain stream or college, saying that the 20 student suicide deaths in the past eight months are concerning to us.

Gehlot cited examples from his own life to explain how, as a youngster, he studied late at night to achieve his goal of being a doctor, but when he failed, he didn’t give up and eventually took a different road that lead him to become a social worker and politician.

The fact that 20 kids committed suicide in Kota over the course of the last eight months is concerning. When I was younger, I also aspired to be a doctor. I used to study till two or three in the morning, but I was unsuccessful. But I didn’t let my courage waver. I altered my course, went into social work, got into politics, and now here I am,” he remarked.

On August 8, BJP MP Sushil Kumar Modi also raised alarm over the rise in student suicides.