Student suicides in Kota are common. This year, 10 students have committed suicide in Kita. To increase the ‘happiness index’ and to reverse this trend among coaching students, a group of 20 IIT students and entrepreneurs, with help of the Kota district administration, will launch the ‘Making Kota, Happiness City’ campaign in the first week of June.
Around 1.50 lakh coaching students come to Kota from all over the country, often know as India’s capital for preparation of IIT-JEE, NEET and other medical and engineering entrance examinations.
Aman Maheshwari, an engineer, who led the group, decided to start the campaign for coaching students. The other members of the group are IITians who have passed out in recent years from IIT Delhi, Bombay, Roorkee, Kanpur & others who have done B.Tech in recent years.
Maheshwari said,”The group will run campaigns to enhance the image of Kota as an education hub”.
Aman Maheshwari, who has completed B.Tech from the Dubai campus of BITS Pilani and post graduation from the United Kingdom, said,”Sports, motivational and wellness programmes and other recreational activities will be organised every month.”
An IIT student Siddharth Jain, the convener of the Happiness City campaign, said that their group has prepared a comprehensive action plan for increasing the happiness index in Kota city. A website has also been launched.
Jain added,”Apart from recreation, students will be also be informed about multiple career options so that they do not get disheartened in case they fail to clear engineering or medical entrance examination”.
Maheshwari said,”When I was studying in London, Kota was popular as an education city among students and they wanted to know why Kota attracts students”.
He also said that India lags behind countries such as Sri Lanka and Burma in happiness surveys conducted by the World Health Organisation, so they started the campaigns.
Jain said that activities such as ‘students got talent’ motivational seminars by experts, Happiness Adda, painting and sports activities, tie-ups for mental health activities with hospitals and doctors, career and psychological counselling, online book bank facility and spreading happiness will remain the core of the campaign.