Concerned over incidents of rising suicide cases in Kota, local authorities have found an innovative solution to partly solve this problem: ‘spring loaded fans’. This solution which soon went viral was mocked across social media by people who said that instead of gimmicks, the administration should look into the actual problems, that is, poor mental health, stress, etc which is caused by the undue pressure from the parents and is aggravated by the way the coaching institutions in Kota function.

Naveen Mittal, President of Hostel Association in Kota, said that a demo of the fan was given to him by a Bengaluru-based company. The association then apprised the then district magistrate who prepared guidelines for its implementation. The Kota administration has shared concerns over the rising number of student suicides in the district and has on Thursday ordered all hostels and PGs in Kota to install such fans in their properties.

So far this year around 20 students have died while studying in Kota. In the most recent incident, an 18-year-old student was found hanging at a rented accommodation in the city on Tuesday night. This is the fourth student suicide reported in Kota this month. Three other coaching students, including two IIT-JEE aspirants and one NEET-UG aspirant, died earlier this month. Last year, at least 15 cases of suicide by students were reported in the coaching hub.

Following several such incidences of suicide in Kota and the High Court guidelines over the rising deaths, the district administration had called for psychological evaluation of students in Kota and necessary counseling to be provided to them.

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