The Aryavarth Express
Agency(Gujarat): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has voiced “serious concerns” and “deep dissatisfaction” regarding the alarming suicide statistics in Gujarat. Referencing data disclosed in the state legislature, Kharge noted that over the last three fiscal years, 25,000 individuals have ended their lives, with close to 500 being students.
“Addressing this distressing disclosure by the Gujarat government, the startlingly high suicide figures have come to light,” Kharge remarked. The recent figures shared in the State Legislature reveal a troubling truth: during the BJP’s governance, over 25,000 individuals have succumbed to suicide in the past three financial years, including nearly 500 students. These numbers reveal the dire situation of a community overwhelmed by despair, hopelessness, and unresolved complaints. In a region known for its development and wealth, the fact that numerous residents have been driven to suicide is shocking.
Kharge criticized this as yet another instance of the BJP’s ineffective governance, which has brought various injustices upon the nation. Both the state and the federal government have not met their commitments to announce and fill job vacancies or to generate new employment opportunities. Additionally, Kharge highlighted the Prime Minister’s lack of response to this severe human catastrophe in his native state as particularly striking. Even the acknowledgment of this crisis by CM Bhupendra Patel, though worthy of criticism, is inadequate in addressing the fundamental governance failures and the urgent need for action to prevent further tragedies.
Kharge emphasized that the current leaders have neglected their responsibility to protect the citizens’ welfare and tackle the underlying issues contributing to the rising suicide rates. The fact that the majority of these cases are from major cities like Ahmedabad (3,280), Surat (2,862), and Rajkot (1,287) sharply criticizes the government’s failure to offer sufficient support and resources to those at risk.
He urged the Gujarat government to place the health and safety of its citizens as its top priority and to take swift and decisive steps to mitigate the growing suicide rates, which have overshadowed the state with gloom.