Rajasthan’s Kota has become a coaching hub where students from across the country flock to prepare for engineering and medical entrance exams. However, the city’s reputation took some beating in last few years as several students committed suicides as they buckle up under pressure of the insanely competitive exams. According to a 2014 report of National Crime Record Bureau, at least 45 students committed suicide in Kota due to fear of failure in exams. Last year, the number was 17. The students often take the extreme step as they could not handle the stress level created by the expectations of parents.
In an attempt to tackle this problem city administration has come up with a unique idea. As most of the suicides involve students hanging themselves from ceiling fans of their hostel rooms, Kota’s hostel association has decided to install ceiling fans which are suicide proof.
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The coaching capital will soon get its first set of suicide-proof ceiling fan rods created by Mumbai-based engineer Sharad Ashani. The anti-suicide rod has a spring inside it that expands when the fan suffers a load beyond a particular limit and deposit’s the person safely on the ground, reports Mumbai Mirror.
The spring fitted fans would not just come down if a student tries to hang himself or herself from the fans but would also sound a hooter to intimate hostel authorities of the suicide attempt, Hindustan Times reported.
Besides, these rods are available at an affordable price of Rs 250 and could be retrofitted into both new and old fans.
