Bangalore: Hall of Shame - Karnataka Tops Suicide List
Daijiworld Media Network – Bangalore (SP)
Bangalore, Sep 15: The erstwhile ‘Silicon City’ and ‘Garden City’ has now been faced with the ignominy of being branded the ‘Capital City of Suicides’ in India. At the same time, Karnataka has emerged at the top of the table among the states recording the highest number of suicides.
Notably, the capital city has helped the state to rise to this notorious position. The number of suicides in the city is so great that its debatable emergence as the capital of suicides has cast its shadow on the record of the entire state. The city is followed by New Delhi and Mumbai, both of which are bigger than Bangalore, under this parameter.
As many as 34 persons per every one lac population are committing suicide in the state, and this figure includes children. In comparison, the average suicide rate in New Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata, stands between 24 and 28. It is tragic that a city that attracts retired persons, tourists, entrepreneurs, emigrants, industrialists apart from IT/BT companies, has stooped to this level.
The ignoble distinction the city has secured is not only tragic, but also worth undertaking a detailed study. The fact that it has humbled mega metros like Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkota, and Hyderabad under this head has made the civil society to sit up and take notice.
The above facts were brought out in a detailed study conducted by the department of epidemiology in the city-based National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS). United Nations Organization, in 2003, decided to regulate suicide rates all over the world, and declared September 10 as Suicide Prevention Day.
India, which was expected to chalk out strategies and plans to bring down suicide rates, has failed to do anything in the matter. Unless the issue is taken in all its seriousness, the situation might worsen, in view of changed lifestyles, incidence of diseases, lack of psychological support, mistaken notions about life’s goals, and feeling of dejection caused by intense competition in all fields.