Jamshedpur tops in suicide: Dr Mahavir Ram

Brigadier CS Vaidyanathan made Executive Director of Jeevan

Mail News service

Jamshedpur, March 25: Brigadier CS Vaidyanathan (trustee member of Jeevan Sanstha) has been given additional charge of Executive Director keeping in mind the health of Dr JR Jain, the current Director of the city’s social organization ‘Jeevan.’ The Founder Director of Jeevan, Dr Mahavir Ram and the other members of this organization have been striving hard and sincerely to prevent suicides.

Dr Ram remarked, “A city that is renowned for cleanliness, greenery and beauty has been unfortunately tagged to the highest number of suicide cases in the state.”

The number of suicides in 2010 was 200 (15.2 per lakh population). Due to the continuous efforts of Jeevan, the numbers came down to 177 (10 per lakh) in 2019. “But just when things were cautiously looking brighter on the suicide scenario with a drop in the number of suicide cases, a bolt from the blue fell in the form of COVID-19. School and college going children, idle time behind closed doors, joblessness, dwindling earning avenues, opportunities of meeting friends and relatives and many other causes led to frustrations born out of household bickering or the inability to go out. Everything and every scope of living had become barricaded as human beings were forced to a life of indoor living. The lockdowns, although very good prevention measures, definitely enhanced mental woes and when these became unbearable, people were tempted to take the extreme step of ending life. The cautious euphoria of suicide cases scaling down was short-lived.  From 177 cases of suicide in 2019, the number increased to 258 (16.1) in 2020 and 255 in 2021 at an average of 21 suicides per month,” informed Dr Mahavir Ram.

He went on to state, “In 2022, during the initial months of January and February, this number has come down to 17 per month. The goal of Jeevan is to bring down this number further and for that there is a need and purpose to make efforts on a war footing. To make this determination a success, Brigadier Vaidyanathan has been given the additional responsibility. I believe that under his stewardship, Jeevan will get a shot in its arm towards attaining its objectives of suicide prevention and erasing negative thinking. We also look forward to public cooperation as joining shoulders for attainment of our objectives to prevent suicide and remove the varying causes of frustration.”

It may be mentioned that Jeevan has been providing free confidential and emotional support since 2006. The new Executive Director, Brigadier Vaidyanathan was an electrical engineer by profession and posted in the rank in the Indian Army. He retired from the army in 1995 after putting in 30 years of service. Among his several defense qualification is his role in the 1971 war against Pakistan.

People under mental stress or their friends or family members can call on Jeevan helpline numbers 9297777499/9297777500/9955435500 and 9955377500.