Authorities in Rajasthan's Kota district have asked coaching institutes to stop conducting routine tests of students preparing for NEET and other competitive exams for the next two months in the wake of suicides by a number of aspirants.

Over two lakh students move to Kota annually to prepare for competitive exams such as the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) for engineering and the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to medical colleges.

According to authorities, 22 students preparing for competitive exams in the district have ended their lives so far in 2023 -- the highest for any year. Last year, the figure was 15.

Two students ended their lives on Sunday, in a span of four hours.

Avishkar Shambaji Kasle (17) jumped off the sixth floor of his coaching institute's building in Jawahar Nagar at around 3.15 pm, minutes after walking out of a room after taking a mock NEET test, police said.

Adarsh Raj (18), who was also preparing for the competitive exam, hanged himself in his rented flat in the Kunhadi police station area at around 7 pm, they said.

The reason behind the two latest suicides is that the aspirants were apparently under pressure for scoring low marks during routine tests conducted by the coaching centres.

Kota district collector O P Bunkar, in an order issued Sunday night, asked the coaching institutes to stop holding routine tests for the next two months.

He said the directions were passed to provide "mental support" to students.

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