98 student suicide cases reported in past 5 years in IITs, NITs, CUs, IIMs, IISERs: MoS

The government revealed that as per the recorded data, 21 students died by suicide in 2018 (who were enrolled in Central universities, IITs, NITs, IIITs, IIMs and IISERs), which decreased to 19 in 2019, 7 in 2020 and 7 in 2021.

Student suicides increasing in CUs, IITs, IIMs

Student suicides increased to 24 in 2022 and 20 students have died by suicide in the first seven months of 2023. (Representative image. Source: Pixabay)

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With seven months in 2023, the government has recorded at least 20 cases of students who were studying in central educational institutions and died by suicide. The statement was issued by the Minister of State for Education Subhas Sarkar in the Parliament.

Sarkar was replying to questions raised by Dr V. Sivadasan, a Rajya Sabha member from Kerala. Sivadasan had questioned the government about the number of students studying in central educational institutions who have died by suicide, social category-wise and economic category-wise, year-wise data for the last five years.

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The government revealed that as per the recorded data, 21 students died by suicide in 2018 (who were enrolled in Central universities, IITs, NITs, IIITs, IIMs and IISERs), which decreased to 19 in 2019, 7 in 2020 and 7 in 2021.

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However, the number increased to 24 in 2022 and 20 students have died by suicide in the first seven months of 2023.

In 2018 and 2019, IITs recorded 8 such cases , which then decreased to 3 and 4 in 2020 and 2021. The number increased to 9 in 2022, and till now there have been 7 cases this year. In CUs, too, 8 cases were registered in 2018, and 2 cases in 2019 and 2020. While there was no registered case in 2021, 4 cases were reported in 2022 and 9 cases have been recorded till now this year.

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“As per the Accidental Deaths & Suicide in India (ADSI), 2021, Report of National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), there are various causes of suicides like professional / career problems, sense of isolation, abuse, violence, family problems, mental disorders etc,” Sarkar said.

The government added that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 provides for counselling systems for handling stress and emotional adjustments in institutions. “To address the issue of mental health and well-being during and after COVID, University Grants Commission (UGC) had issued advisories to Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) on 05.04.2020.UGC has also issued Guidelines for Promotion of Physical Fitness, Sports, Student’s Health, Welfare, Psychological and Emotional Well- being at HEIs,” he added.

Parichay Kumar, Superintendent of Police (Patna East), who reached the spot, said: "We have been talking to the driver of Rajkumar Yadav. Prima facie, it looks to be a case of land dispute and money transactions."

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