India’s adolescent and youth population – people below the age of 25 – accounts for 53.7% of the population. Yet, most of these youths are not employable as they lack the requisite skills.
Another pressing concern for India’s youth population is a high number of suicides. According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), in 2020, a student took their own life every 42 minutes; that is, every day, more than 34 students died by suicide.
It is alarming that this is not being recognised as a grave crisis.
Rising number of student suicides
In India, the phenomenon of suicide is constantly individualised or personalised, allowing society to escape accountability. According to the NCRB’s Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India (ADSI) report, 2020, around 8.2% of students in the country die by suicide. The report also notes that 64,114 people under 30 years of age took their
— source thewire.in | Sipoy Sarveswar, Johns Thomas | 02/Jun/2022