Coaching centres in Kota asked to halt routine tests of NEET, JEE aspirants as suicide cases rise
Kota (Rajasthan) (PTI): Authorities in Rajasthan's Kota district have asked coaching institutes to stop conducting routine tests of students preparing for NEET and other competitive exams for the next two months in the wake of suicides by a number of aspirants.
Over two lakh students move to Kota annually to prepare for competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for engineering and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges.
According to authorities, 22 students preparing for competitive exams in the district have ended their lives so far in 2023 -- the highest for any year. Last year, the figure was 15.
Two students ended their lives on Sunday, in a span of four hours.
Avishkar Shambaji Kasle (17) jumped off the sixth floor of his coaching institute's building in Jawahar Nagar at around 3.15 pm, minutes after walking out of a room after taking a mock NEET test, police said.
Adarsh Raj (18), who was also preparing for the competitive exam, hanged himself in his rented flat in the Kunhadi police station area at around 7 pm, they said.
The reason behind the two latest suicides is that the aspirants were apparently under pressure for scoring low marks during routine tests conducted by the coaching centres.
Kota district collector O P Bunkar, in an order issued Sunday night, asked the coaching institutes to stop holding routine tests for the next two months.
He said the directions were passed to provide "mental support" to students.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
