A Parliamentary Committee Requests That The Health Ministry Contact Young People Who Have Failed Tests

A parliamentary committee has advised the health ministry to include a mechanism under the 24-hour helpline to ring up youths who fail competitive exams and counsel them against suicide. The committee suggested that the ministry improve methods for tracking factors that lead to suicides through its National Suicide Prevention and lower their incidence.

The committee was saddened to learn that the majority of suicides in India were committed by students and unemployed young people. The Committee observes that although farmers committed suicide at a higher rate than students did, the latter's deaths were described as a national tragedy. Student suicides, on the other hand, virtually ever received attention and were handled individually," it claimed.
To reduce the stigma associated with mental health concerns, the committee recommended that the government give priority to mental health awareness and education programmes.

According to the study, "The committee recommends the ministry to make provision under its 24-hour helpline to telephone connect with youths who miss out on qualifying for competitive exams like UPSC-CSE, NEET, SSC, JEE, etc. by a small margin and counsel them against committing suicide."