In what could possibly be a first-of-its-kind initiative by the administration to help thousands of engineering and medical aspirants who suffer from exam-related stress, the Kota district collector has decided to set up a 24X7 call centre in the city.
In addition to this, a panel of experts would also be available to counsel anxious students. A coaching hub, Kota of late has reported student suicides due to severe examination pressure. A few months ago, a PMT aspirant from Patna, who was taking coaching from a reputed institute hanged herself, unable to cope up with the peer pressure.
The call center, which is expected to start functioning from the first week of June, would have two people in three shifts of eight hours each. It would attend to the problems of callers, and accordingly refer them to the concerned expert for a one-to-one counselling.
District collector, Kota, T Ravikant told TOI, “As students, we all have had butterflies in our stomach before the exams. Kota has a large number of students preparing for some of the toughest examinations every year. In such stressful situations, they need support from someone other than their parents and teachers, with whom they can share their feelings.”
He said since most of these aspirants are between the age group of 16 and 19, they are vulnerable to stress and depression, academics being a major reason for it. “After a sudden rise in stress-related suicides, we realized the immediate need for such a service” he said.
While a panel of doctors and experts is under constitution, the collector has also invited applications from candidates who are willing to work at the call centre. A few volunteers have already contacted him and shown keen interest to become a part of the initiative. “The service is not just meant for IIT-JEE and PMT aspirants, but for all school and college students,” said Ravikant.
