The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Wednesday took suo motu cognizance of a media report that three students of a coaching center died by suicide in Kota, Rajasthan on 11th December 2022.
NHRC has issued notice to the Chief Secretary, the Government of Rajasthan, the Secretary, Higher Education, the Union Ministry of Education, and the Chairperson, the National Medical Commission, and sought a report on the case.
NHRC in his press statement said “the Chief Secretary, Rajasthan is expected to submit a detailed report of the incident. It must also spell out the steps taken or proposed by the State about the regulatory mechanism to control the private coaching institutes in view of a large number of reported suicides of students. In addition, it must also contain a formulation of a long-term plan to adequately address the issue of psychological and behavioral abnormality of the students undergoing coaching in different private institutes in Kota, by providing adequate counseling to them, including the parents, so that they should not feel lonely or under huge pressure of expectation of the family members and the friends, etc.
The Secretary, of the Ministry of Higher Education, is expected to inform about the formulation of the National Action Plan of a proportional increase of the seats in technical education as well as medical education and also to evolve the mechanism to get rid of the rat race of getting admission in the private coaching centers to achieve success in the competitive examination of JEE and NEET,
The commission said
The Commission has observed that the contents of the media report, if true, amount to a grave issue of human rights. Over the years, Kota has become a hub of private coaching centers for the aspirants of the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET). They are charging a very hefty amount. Students, from across the country, are staying in hostels/paying guest houses with a high expectation of success. This is putting them under a lot of pressure. There is a need to regulate private coaching institutes, the statement said
