Two JEE Aspirants Die by Suicide in Kota, Sparking Concerns Over Student Wellbeing | Representational Image
Jaipur: Striking a blow to the efforts of Kota administration and coaching industry players of image correction of the coaching city, two Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) aspirants have allegedly committed suicide in the Kota in the last two days.
The police said that 20-year-old JEE aspirant identified as Abhishek from Guna, Madhya Pradesh allegedly died by suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan in his PG room. He was preparing for the JEE at a coaching institute in Kota since May last year and was living in a PG room in Dakaniya area under the Vigyan Nagar Police Station here.
The suitable note recovered from the room was addressed to grandparents and father. It reads” main padhai nahi kar paaya dada – dadi, papa, mujhe maaf kar dena.”
Abhishek was the only child in the family and his father Mahendra is a farmer. Vigyan Nagar Police Station SHO Mukesh Meena said that the dead body has been handed over to the relatives after postmortem on Thursday.
Before this, A 19-year-old JEE aspirant Neeraj had allegedly hanged himself from a noose in his hostel room on Tuesday night. The student was from Mahendragarh in Haryana and was living in a hostel in Rajiv Gandhi Nagar.
The Circle Inspector Budharam Jat said that the boy allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself to the hook of a ceiling fan in his hostel room late Tuesday evening. However, the incident came to light around 10.30 pm when the caretaker knocked the room and did not receive any response.
No suicide note was recovered from the deceased. The police is investigating the case. The father of the deceased student Bablu Prajapat said that his son was preparing for JEE Mains in Kota for the last two years and was good at studies
“I spoke to my son Neeraj on phone last time around 3.30 pm on Tuesday, and he was in a good mood with no complaints whatsoever,” Neeraj’s father told reporters outside the mortuary in Kota.
Notably, the student suicides have severely damaged the image of the coaching city and the footfall of students here has dipped by around 30–40 percent in the past two years. In the year 2023, 28 students committed suicide here, while in 2024 the number of suicides was 17.
This resulted in a sharp decline in student football in the city. As per reports there were more than 2,20,000 children in Kota in the year 2022, this number had fallen to 170,000 in 2023 and to 120,000 in 2024.
The Kota Hostel Association President Naveen Mittal said, “around 1.70 -1.80 lakh students comes to Kota every year, but the number declined to 1.20 lakh in 2024 which has affected the economy of the city.”
Kota depends upon the coaching industry
The entire economy of Kota is dependent on coaching.There are 10 big coaching institutes in Kota. More than 50 small and individual coaching classes are running as well. Besides this, there are 4200 registered hostels and more than 30,000 PG rooms and flats in more than 15 areas along with hundreds of tiffin centers, restaurants, and shops.
“Every student who arrives in Kota, spends around Rs two lakh per year, so one can understand the size of economy that runs because of these students,” said Mittal.
The efforts
The Kota administration, coaching centers, hostel operators are trying hard to improve the image of the city and appealing to parents to send their children to Kota.
— From Loksabha Speaker and MP from Kota Om Birla to the District Collector Dr. Ravindra Goswami and Superintendent of Police of Kota Dr. Amrita have appealed to parents to send their wards to Kota.
— A Student Dedicated Emotional Wellbeing Center has been started by a reputed coaching center in Kota to understand, resolve and counsel the students.
— Kota Hostel Association is providing a free one-day stay and food to the parents coming to Kota with their children. — Room rents in hostels have also been reduced for students.
-The Hostel Association is also working on a musical club. — Kota Care Campaign is being started by the administration in Kota to provide behavioral training to vegetable vendors and auto drivers.
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