Kota:

Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar on Saturday cited “love affair” as a cause of student suicides in the coaching hub of Kota, even as he urged parents to be attentive and not mount pressure on their children to study.

Three students in Kota have died by suicide this year. The city, a prominent hub for coaching institutes, witnessed 17 such cases in 2024.

Mr Dilawar, who also holds the Panchayati Raj portfolio, was speaking to reporters after a programme during which SVAMITVA cards for land ownership were issued to beneficiaries in Bundi.

Asked about student suicides in Kota, the minister said he wanted to urge the parents that they needed to be cautious and should not mount pressure regarding studies on their children.

“I would honestly like to urge, though my words may annoy some people, that the parents need to be attentive and careful and they should not mount pressure on their kids,” Mr Dilawar said.

Every student has their own interest and they sink into depression when forced to pursue a goal in a field contrary to their interest and fail, he said.

Coaching institutes may have little role in it but friends play a crucial part with their frequent remarks on student ranks, he added.

In some cases, there are “love affairs” and the students die by suicide due to that, the minister noted.

The parents need to be attentive about their children’s movements and routines. However, they are actually not so careful and when control is lost, the students tend to stray in the wrong direction, Mr Dilawar noted.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Jaipur:

It’s code saffron once again in Rajasthan with the return of the BJP government in the state. Bicycles given to schoolchildren will go back to being saffron, the state’s education minister has announced.

“We are going back to the colour saffron,” minister Madan Dilawar said. “In our previous tenure, the colour of the bicycles was saffron, but the Congress made it black after it came to power. We are only reverting it to saffron, the colour of valour and chivalry,” Mr Dilawar said.

“It’s the colour of patriotism, fire and the Sun at sunrise,” he added.

Political experts said there is more than lyrical poetry to the decision of giving eight lakh students of Class 8 and 9 the bicycles. The scheme was started to prevent school dropouts, so that students especially girls in remote areas have a means to get to school.

The black bicycles were bought after floating a tender of Rs 133 crore. Now, the saffron bicycles will cost the state Rs 150 crore, with each costing Rs 3,933.

The Congress’s Pratap Singh Kachariyawas said the party has no problem with the colour of the cycles, but changing it would be a waste of government money and time.

“Why is the government spending money on making  cycles saffron? How does it matter if it’s a green, black or orange cycle? The point is it should be given to students. We don’t play politics with colour. Our focus is development,” Mr Kachariyawas said.

The Education Department has been in the news for another controversy. Mr Dilawar had said books that call “Akbar the Great” will be taken off the shelves, as he cannot be greater than Maharana Pratap.

This controversy has raised its head now and then in Rajasthan, with the BJP government insisting Akbar cannot be called “The Great” if Maharana Pratap is not elevated as well.

The Education Minister was also in the news for a record surya namaskar exercise across schools in Rajasthan, when on February 15 some 1.14 crore children performed the exercise simultaneously across schools in the state.

Kota:

A government school teacher, posted in Rajasthan’s Baran district, has been suspended for disrespecting Goddess Saraswati and hurting religious sentiments, officials said on Saturday.

Primary school teacher Hemlata Bairwa was suspended on Friday following an order by Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar, they said.

“Some people give weightage to themselves so much, their ‘chaal’ (working style) is not yet gone and they ask what is the contribution of Goddess Saraswati in school, whoever has said so in this area, I suspend him/her,” Mr Dilawar had said addressing a public gathering during his tour in Kishanganj area in Baran district on Thursday.

A day after the minister’s announcement in public, the district education (elementary) officer of Baran on Friday issued order for suspension of Prabodhak level 1 teacher, Hemlata Bairwa, posted at government primary school at Lakdai village in Kishanganj area in Baran district in view of under-consideration of disciplinary action against her.

However, the official at Baran district education department claimed the suspension order was issued after an initial inquiry into hurting and provoking religious sentiments against the teacher was over.

In an initial inquiry into the controversy over placing Goddess Saraswati’s picture on stage at a Republic Day function in the government primary school at Lakadia in Kishanganj area, the teacher was found responsible for hurting and provoking religious sentiments of local people and, on the basis of that, order for her suspension was issued on Friday, Baran district education (elementary) officer Piyush Kumar Sharma told PTI on Saturday morning.

Mr Sharma added the teacher was also ordered to register her attendance at the directorate, elementary education, Bikaner, during this period.

The teacher could have averted the controversy and allowed the Republic Day function to go on smoothly, simply by agreeing with the locals and placing Goddess Saraswati’s picture, but instead she hurt the sentiments and provoked the locals, the officer said.

A dispute had erupted between the primary teacher and other villagers during the Republic Day function in the school on January 26 this year. Ms Bairwa refused to put the picture of Goddess Saraswati on stage at the function along with photos of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhim Rao Ambedkar despite local villagers insisting that it be done.

The teacher further provoked the locals saying Goddess Saraswati contributed nothing to school and education.

On Thursday, two other government teachers were suspended and an inquiry was initiated against a third female teacher, all from a government senior secondary school in Sangod area of Kota district for their alleged involvement in ‘Love Jihad’ and ties with banned Islamic outfits.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)