Rajasthan Polls: Bills Proposed, Suggestions Drafted but Student Suicides Continue in Kota

Kota: As the campaign for the Assembly elections heats up in Rajasthan, problems of the coaching hub of Kota, recently known for a string of student suicides, seem low on the agenda all political parties.

Bills were proposed to keep a check on student suicides and problems that one of the biggest coaching hubs in India, but were opposed and rejected. This year, Kota saw the maximum suicides since 2015.

Sunny, 18, a close friend of  Raj (name changed) who died by suicide about three months ago, tells Newsclick, “He was never a quiet person. He would sit with us, talk as much as any other student, and attend classes regularly. But something changed suddenly, and he was not the same person anymore. He would keep to himself, sit in the mess alone, and would not come out of the room often.” Sunny is from Bihar and is preparing for JEE (Joint Entrance Exam) in Kota.

Thousands of students come to Kota at a very young age with dreams and aspirations. Right from the railway station to the rear corner of the city, there is no place where one can’t see the presence of students. A few leave the city shining bright with their pictures up on hoardings. But for a major chunk, the dreams do not come true. For some, the city brings joy and for the others, it is nothing but an accumulation of pressure that they cannot handle. 

Raj was among 25 students who died by suicide this year in Kota. Although some students say that the toll is much higher than what the reports suggest. They allege that the coaching institutes deliberately hide these figures to protect their reputation. Surprisingly, this problem plaguing the coaching industry has had no traction amid the heated election campaign going on in the state.

NewsClick spoke to several hostel managers, owners, students, and people who provide hostels to students to understand the problems that students face living there. There is no one conclusion on the pressure that students face.

“Most of the students who come here are not prepared at all. They come at the age of 15-17 years and this leads to them either succumbing to the lifestyle that the city has to offer or leads them to going back home. We feel parents should not send their kids out until they are at least 18 years old,” says Anand, who works with a company and provides students with hostel facilities and food as per their financial capability. 

Recently, these ‘coaching factories’ have opened up to class 6 students as well, where a student would only be 11-12 years old. This is a stage when they are not prepared to face the challenges and distractions other than the coaching itself.

Yash Vardhan, 20, said he had been preparing for NEET (National Eligibility and Entrance Test) for the past three years and has failed to clear the attempt twice. He is from Madhya Pradesh and could be seen helping out his juniors.

“The pressure builds up because we are compelled to live the same routine over and over again. We do not have a life here, no family, our friends are as busy as us, and we are restricted to coaching, hostel, and mess. Doing this consistently for at least two years straight is really difficult. This is why some students end up giving in,” he said.

With student suicides in Kota making national and international headlines, one thought the issue would find some mention in the ongoing election campaign, Alas, that was not so.

This year, the Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government in Rajasthan introduced The Coaching Institute (Control and Regulation) Bill to keep a check on these institutes. The proposed norms include not placing students as per their marks in different batches but doing so in an alphabetical order. The Bill also proposed to make it mandatory for students to undergo a counselling session every 45, 90 and 120 days. This way, the government felt, these coaching institutes could keep a constant check on students who seem disturbed. 

Another clause was to take an aptitude test before the institute admits students two years of preparation for an entrance test.

Unfortunately, the Bill was drafted and presented in the VIdhan Sabha in January 2023, but could not make any headway as it was opposed by several people, including MLAs. There was a view that the coaching institutes could face losses if the proposals were implemented.

Hence, what the government did was to instead draft certain recommendations for these institutes, advising them to act accordingly. In short, these institutes were absolved from holding any accountability, with the government claiming that “measures’ have been taken to prevent student suicides.

However, this is not the first time that the government has introduced recommendations and coaching institutes have ignored them. In 2018, there was a similar set of recommendations but the institutes paid no heed. 

Several students NewsClick spoke with felt that coaching institutes were not solely responsible for the suicides that the city has seen. They claim many students fall into the trap of drugs and are unable to get back to what their life should have been. In fact, some 16-year-olds that NewsClick spoke with knew about all kinds of drugs, their availability, names etc.

“There is another big reason why the girl students have committed suicide. Some girl students end up being in a relationship, and later become targets of blackmail, using videos etc. They (boys with whom they are in a relationship) try to extort money to keep their secret. This often leads to a lot of mental strain because of which some girl students have ended up giving up their lives,” added Yash. 

Aditya, who owns a lot of hostels in the Landmark area, seems to have a good connection with students. He said that he ensured that the warden checked thrice on every student daily.

“With smartphones in every student’s hand, it has become difficult to keep them disciplined. Often students spend nights chatting and watching videos on their phones, and I have no control over it. The student later misses the morning class. But now they also have an excuse to do so. They say that they are studying online via the classes available on YouTube. I do not understand the purpose of being in Kota spending so much money if they are to follow the online education trail,” he said.

Although the coaching counsellors and hostel owners that NewsClick spoke with claimed they had been keeping a check on students, some students had a different view. In fact, some students opened up only after a hostel owner left, saying how neither the hostel owner nor the coaching institutes ever paid heed to their problems.

As Rajasthan gets ready for voting on November 25, one hopes the dire situation in the coaching hub of Kota, of rising student suicides, catches the eye of the new government. For, there is no denying that there is an urgent need of a law that keeps a check on these money-making coaching factories.