Nizam College to take up suicide issue as a social crisis

​Hyderabad: In the first quarter of the current year, one of the oldest educational institutions of the city and entire south India - Nizam College - was racked by a series of suicides. Four students, pursuing both UG and PG courses ended their lives owing to multiple reasons – love failure being at one end and feeling unsure and helpless in achieving career goals at the other.

The 129-year-old college, serving the educational needs of students from not only Telangana and other parts of India but also an impressive number of foreign students over the years, decided to enlist the help of a civil society organisation –Roshni - to mitigate the serious problem which had cropped up.

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Highlights:

• Suicide incidents involving its students between January-March this year jolt the oldest institution of the city into grievance redressal mode
• A national seminar is being organised for a total study from both the sociological and medical perspectives

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Much to its relief, there were no more cases reported subsequently. Here is where the college management decided to go a step ahead - to brainstorm and think aloud, bringing in a comprehensive approach to understand and analyse the causes behind suicides, one of the major threats confronting Indian society at present.

To take this ahead, beginning from October 5, a two-day national seminar on the subject ‘Suicides in India: Tendencies, Prevention and Mitigation of the Social Crisis’, sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) is being held at the college premises.

Organised by the college’s Department of Sociology in collaboration with Centre for Action Research and People’s Development (CARPED), the event has received overwhelming support from academics and professionals from all over the country.

Around 60 papers are expected to be presented over multiple sessions during the two-day seminar. The thrust of these papers is multidisciplinary, involving the roles of sociologists, psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors and policy makers.

Dr Vinita Pandey, Assistant Professor, Deptt of Sociology, Nizam College, told ‘The Hans India’ that the institution is of the firm opinion that it is indeed the need of the hour in addressing this major area of concern, approaching it from multiple angles, including the sociological and psychological aspects.

“As a college which has a heterogeneous mix of students, it is utmost important to take a long-term view and institute necessary mechanisms where the scholars can be assured of necessary support and handholding when required,” she added.

Aijaz-ur-Rahman, Head, Deptt of Sociology of the college, said that they were not wanting the event to end up as a scholarly, well-intentioned effort but would take it ahead to benefit the students by engaging civil society organisations in providing counselling and redressal as a regular activity.

The college for sure is not short of all round support, with the vice-chancellors of Osmania University and NALSAR gracing the inaugural function scheduled on Wednesday. The reputed Indian Sociological Society too is backing the seminar.

CARPED, a noted civil society organisation, has collaborated with it, adding the critical public interface to the activity. As its Secretary, M Bharath Bhushan adds: “We aim to narrow down the gaps existing at present between the academic world and that of the one outside, with practical insights shared by field-level professionals and others who have a major role to play in mitigating the looming crisis of suicides among the students and the youth.”