On Wednesday, Jagdeep Dhankhar, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha, acknowledged the distressing issue of student suicides attributed to the pressures of competitive exams. Urging members of the upper house to propose a discussion on the matter during question hour, he highlighted five supplementary queries from members concerning student suicides in the context of competitive exams, according to an official statement.

Even after Dharmendra Pradhan, union education minister responded to all oral supplementaries, members expressed ongoing concern about the issue. Recognising the gravity of the situation, Dhankhar appealed to the members, emphasising their collective involvement in addressing the issue and making significant contributions. He suggested the development of an ecosystem aimed at minimising and ultimately eliminating student suicides, as per the statement.

Expressing responsibility for these student suicides, Pradhan emphasised the need to reduce the number to zero. In a supplementary question, Priyanka Chaturvedi, MP, Shiv Sena, inquired about the minister’s plans to implement data-building systems, citing a 70% rise in student suicides over the past decade. Pradhan, referencing the 2022 NCRB data, denied awareness of such a fact, the statement noted.

Furthermore, Chaturvedi insisted on presenting data responsibly, referring to the NCRB’s information from the last 10 years. KC Venugopal , MP, Congress, raised concerns about student suicides in central universities, IITs and IIMs, particularly among SC/ST/OBC communities. He highlighted the education ministry’s acknowledgment of a minimum of 15 suicides from these communities in the period from 2018-2021. Additionally, Venugopal pointed out more than 13,000 dropouts from SC/ST/OBC communities in IITs, IIMs and central universities over the past five years. He emphasised issues of caste discrimination, mental harassment and student suicides, questioning the government’s commitment to taking serious action on these matters.

With inputs from PTI.