Rajasthan: Spring-loaded fans now a must in Kota hostel rooms

After 20 suicides mostly by hanging were reported from Rajasthanrsquos entrance exam hub Kota allegedly under pressure to crack NEET and JEE the state government is installing springloaded fans in hostel rooms and has formed a committee to combat such incidentsChief Minister Ashok Gelot late Friday evening held a meeting with hostel directors coaching directors parents and guardians of the competitive examination aspirants to find out why youths are taking the extreme step and how to tackle the issueDuring the twohourlong meeting the Chief Minister directed secretary education to form a committee including coaching directors parents and guardians of students which will submit a report within 15 days on suggestions to check suicidesState Education MinisterBD Kalla suggested that average students should be encouraged to play cricket and football instead of ldquopressurisingrdquo himher to crack the competitive exams Chairing the meeting Gehlot said ldquoStudents take admission in Kota coaching centres at the age of 15 and have stay far away from their parents Hence coaching directors have the responsibility to provide them with a homelike atmosphere The aspirants should be allowed to go home on festivals If students study under pressure suicidal cases will increaserdquoAlso readlsquoWomen freed from prison deserve a second chancersquoldquoIf student is weak then heshe should be advised to play good cricket or football Look at Virat Kohli he is earning more than doctors and engineers Coaching centres should be transformed into happiness centres and students should be made to learn how to become successful after failuresrdquo said KallaldquoNow trend is changing as IITians are also doing political surveys for politicians and are seen engaged in their poll campaignsrdquo said Gehlot In the meeting Minister of State Zahida Khan said that the coaching institutes in Kota should not become just ldquomoneyearning machinesrdquoldquoChildren should be tested before admission to know whether they are capable of preparing for a competitive exam or not If not then the parents should be told about itrdquo Khan said Khan suggested that music and yoga classes can be organised in the hostels so that there is no pressure on the studentsrsquo mindMeanwhile the reports of Kota administration installing spring loaded fans in 3200 hostels are garnering criticsrsquo attention who said that such acts are inefficient to check suicides Priti Sridhar CEO Mariwala Health Initiative says ldquoInstalling spring fans will not solve the issue We need to understand the underlying stress of these studentsrdquoSocial media too was abuzz with criticism over the move Meanwhile the work to install spring loaded fans in hostels is going at a fast pace as district collector OP Bunkar has directed in this contextThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever