Kota, formerly known as Kotah situated in the southeast of the Rajasthan state in northern India. It ranks as the third most populated city in Rajasthan with a population of more than 1.2 million. Since 2000, the city has been a well-known coaching location for those preparing for competitive exams and for-profit educational services.
Kota’s education industry has grown to be one of the main drivers of the local economy. Kota is considered to as “the coaching capital of India” in the common language. The town of Kota, also known as the “Kota Factory,” is home to more than 40 sizable tutoring facilities for aspirants.
Every year, almost 2.5 lakh students from all over the nation go to the city to study for tests like the NEET-UG and IIT-JEE and reside here in dorms and PGs for up to 2-3 years. In spite of this preparation, this city also became the hub of an increasing number of deaths rate in students.
Kota’s Police New Initiative:
Increased pressure, staying away from home, and the burden of expectations, lead students to suffer alone is the leading cause of this increment. Due to this increase in no. of deaths in the past few years, Kota police initiated a new campaign for the students’ mental health to keep in check known as “Darwaze Pe Dastak”. According to Chandrasheel Thakur, ASP, Kota, “Students spend most of their time in hostels or PGs after their coaching. He said that these signs can be recognized at an early stage, so preventive measures can be taken for students”.
Aim of the Initiative
The aim of this knock-on-the-door initiative is to recognise the early signs of depression in students and provide them the mental health first aid and support through counselling.
For this, the police have contacted the wardens of PGs, mess workers, and tiffin service providers to get a hold on students’ eating and absenteeism. The campaign is trying to spread awareness among wardens and tiffin service providers to inform the police if they find any early signs and regularly check on every student’s door at 11 p.m. & ask if they are okay or need any help.
Naveen Mittal, president of the Kota Hostel Association, said “There are 25,000 paying guest (PG) rooms in Kota and we have assigned them on this work to give information to police if the student is skipping meals or classes”.
In response to the most recent incidents, the district administration recently ordered the coaching centers to stop administering routine exams to students preparing for the NEET and other competitive exams for the next two months.”
