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What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: During the parliamentary session on Tuesday, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment disclosed a sobering statistic, revealing that a staggering 35,950 students tragically committed suicide in the years 2019, 2020, and 2021 across the nation. This alarming figure underscores the critical importance of addressing mental health concerns among students and implementing supportive measures within the education system.
Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Abbaiah Narayanaswamy responded to a question posed by Janata Dal (United) representative Alok Kumar Suman in the Lok Sabha. The question pertained to the number of suicides among Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students in the country. Narayanaswamy stated that the information was unavailable.
When asked about steps taken to prevent social discrimination across national institutions in the country, the minister said: “The department of Higher Education has established counselling cell and various mechanisms such as SC/ST students’ cells, equal opportunity cells, students grievance cell, student grievance committee, student social club, liaison officers, liaison committee in various national institutes to proactively address the issue…”
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The inquiry arises in the context of recent incidents where students from marginalised backgrounds have tragically taken their own lives in prestigious educational institutions, often attributed to struggles with academic stress or facing discrimination from peers or faculty members.
“Further, the protection of civil rights (PCR) act 1955, that prescribes punishment for enforcement of any disability arising from the practice of ‘untouchability’, and the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) (prevention of atrocities) (PoA) Act, 1989, is in force to prevent the commission of offenses of atrocities against members including students of SCs and STs,” the minister added.
Suman also inquired about the incidence of suicides among SC and ST students stemming from financial challenges such as loans and poverty, as well as instances of social discrimination in the country, replying to which, Narayanaswamy said, “NCRB has no information regarding the details and the number of SC and ST committed suicide due to loan and poverty.”
He conveyed that the recorded student suicides escalated from 10,335 in 2019 to 12,526 in 2020, and further to 13,089 in 2021.
