Coaching city Kota turns into 'suicide factory' as students buckle under intense pressure

Rajasthan's Kota, once called the coaching city for producing engineers and doctors in India, is now turning into a "suicide factory" after back-to-back cases of aspirants killing themselves on being unable to handle the pressure are being reported.

The city has attained the dubious distinction of a suicide centre as many horrific stories have been coming out from this city narrating the pathetic state of affairs.

On Thursday, yet another student committed suicide in Kota. When the police arrived, a polythene was tied on his mouth and rope tied on his hands. A suicide note was also been found from the spot and in it, he said that he was responsible for his death.

DSP Dharamveer Singh said that Manjot Chhabra, 18, son of Harjot Singh Chhabra and a resident of Milak in Uttar Pradesh's Rampur, was preparing for NEET and was staying in the hostel here.

He said that Chhabra had come to Kota only 4 months back and lived alone in the hostel room. He had come back there at around 8 p.m. on Wednesday after attending the coaching class and since then, was there only.

When he did not leave the room till 9.30 a.m. on Thursday, the friends living in the hostel called him. As he did not receive the call, his friends went up to the room and found it locked from inside. They then called the coaching operator at around 10 a.m.  When the police were told about the incident, a police team reached the hostel by around 10.15 a.m. and broke open the door to find Chhabra's body was lying on the bed.

This is not the only story but there are many such cases of those who committed suicide which give goosebumps as they narrate a tale of pain which they have been undergoing after facing the pressure.

This is the 17th suicide in the 'education city' this year.

A few days ago, another student, Pushpendra Singh, committed suicide by hanging himself. He had come to Kota only a week back to prepare for NEET and was living in the hostel with his uncle’s son. According to the police, there was no suicide note.

Over the past few years, Kota has made headlines for students dying by suicide due to stress and disappointment over failure.

Last year, at least 15 cases of suicide by students were registered in Kota.

Ankush from Bihar, who committed suicide last year, was heard weeping in his room before he did away with himself. However, no one went to ask him the reason.

Another student Ujjawal who hanged himself the same day told his father that the coaching centre takes too many tests due to which he gets frequent headaches.

Abhishek from Bihar who was preparing for NEET, committed suicide by hanging himself. The police found a suicide note which read: "I am Failed... I am sorry mom and dad. I wanted to study, but don't know how my mind got distracted. I keep thinking of things here and there."

However, the police are yet to find out who or what was distracting him.

A year ago, Shikha Yadav, 17, committed suicide by jumping from the 5th floor of her hostel. She was preparing for medicine.

Last year, two students taking coaching for IIT and NEET died due to drowning in Gaparnath Kund. Both had gone for a walk with another friend. While trying to save each other, both drowned. However, coaching officials have no clues about their absence from coaching.

BJP leader Prahlad Gunjal in fact accused the veteran leaders of the city adding that they are focusing on coaching factories which are simply promoting rote learning and putting pressure on students.

"Why do coaching institutes charge Rs 2.5 lakh for the notes made from NCERT books worth Rs 250? Why no authority has ever gone and checked how coaching centres in Kota are discriminating against students on the basis of their performance and placing them in top-grade and below-grade batches?" asked Vishal Tiwari who is delivering free-of-cost coaching to around 5 lakh students via digital media after he himself faced the blues while being a student at a Kota coaching.

"In 2013-14, I was one among those who took coaching in Kota. The situation was pathetic there as discrimination on performance ruled the roost. Those who were good at studies were given the best teachers and best batch while those who were poor in studies were given admission to below-par batches.

"These were the students who had come to Kota after overcoming serious financial challenges, and their parents had taken loans from private lenders at high-interest rates. Also, they (parents) put pressure on their wards to secure good marks and hence such students collapse under pressure - emotional and financial - while studying in Kota," he said.

Tiwari said that there are "clear instructions from the government that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the IIT-JEE syllabus should be based on the NCERT textbooks, which are available for Rs 250. Now, why these coachings charge whopping Rs 2.5 lakh for these courses is a billion dollar question."