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Sunday, September 27, 2020

People must learn to read early signs showing suicidal tendency or turn to experts - National Herald


People must learn to read early signs showing suicidal tendency or turn to experts

Suffering in silence is not heroic. But both individuals and families opt to keep quiet about a debilitating disease, a psychological disorder that seem to drive people to commit suicide

Published: 20 Sep 2020, 1:00 PM

It is hard to tell why some people end their lives while others in similar positions don’t. But the fact is that the world is witnessing an alarming rise in suicides, especially after the pandemic-induced lockdown. And the stigma is such that very few even now are coming out in the open and consulting professional counsellors and psychologists.

Suffering in silence is not heroic. But both individuals and families opt to keep quiet about a debilitating disease, a psychological disorder, frayed nerves and despair that seem to drive people to commit suicide. If families, friends and neighbours cannot do the counselling, the professionals must.

Persistent depression and feeling low, feelings of guilt and hopelessness, anxiety and panic attacks are some of the early signs that point to suicidal inclinations. There are days when things look really bleak. Setbacks in career and exams or relationships do make life look like a drudgery. But none of this should spell the end of the road.

“I wish I were dead. I am unable to think properly. God, I need to control my sarcasm. I have a crushing feeling of inferiority… it seems like a mountain now, a mountain which I cannot climb,” blurts out Sahil (34), an IT professional. Prevailing uncertainties caused by the pandemic, pressure at the workplace and his wife threatening to sue for divorce have driven him up the wall.

Dev is a teenager. A gangly 18-year old boy, he has been suffering from depression since before the lockdown. “I need to face things that medicines will not fix. Am I just a whining brat? I constantly feel guilty for being unable to change.” He had contemplated committing suicide but couldn’t bring himself to do it. “I am a pathetic coward. I don’t know if I will ever become strong enough…” he wails.

Sameera’s is also a familiar story. An IIT aspirant because of parental pressure, she failed to clear the JEE. “Why didn’t I kill myself ? Why did I choose to live? My interests are dead. My motivation is dead. My imagination is dead. I am dead on the inside. And I feel like I am wasting your time because nobody can help me.”

The good news is that all three ‘cases’ benefitted from counselling and therapy and are recovering.

(The author is a Clinical Psychologist and Director, Optimus Center of Well Being, Gurgaon)

Friday, September 25, 2020


Legal Gallery: Supreme Court notice to UPSC, Centre on postponement of exams

By PTI

This seven hours long Offline exam, will be taken by approximately six lakh aspirants at test centres in 72 cities across the country



New Delhi: The SC Thursday sought response from the Centre and the Union Public Service Commission on a plea seeking postponement of civil services 2020 examinations in view of alarming spurt of COVID-19 and floods.

A bench of Justices AM Khanwilkar and Sanjiv Khanna issued notices to UPSC, Centre and posted the matter for hearing on September 28, 2020. The petitioners have sought postponement of the Civil Services Exam for two to three months, so that the flood/incessant rains go away and COVID-19 curve flattens.

The plea, filed by Vasireddy Govardhana Sai Prakash and others, submitted that the decision of UPSC to conduct the exam in accordance with the Revised Calendar, violates the rights of the petitioners and those similarly situated, under Article 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution to practice their chosen profession/occupation of serving the public.

The plea has been filed by 20 UPSC aspirants through advocate Alakh Alok Srivastava against conducting of the Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination on October 4. According to the plea, this seven hours long Offline exam, will be taken by approximately six lakh aspirants at test centres in 72 cities across the country.

"Conducting the aforesaid examination across India at such perilous time, is nothing else but putting lives of lakhs of young students (including Petitioners herein) at utmost risk and danger of disease and death. Also, the natural calamities like flood, incessant rain, landslides etc. are likely to directly affect the life and health of the Petitioners and many similarly situated students. "Hence, the impugned Revised Calendar is utterly arbitrary, unreasonable, whimsical and patently violative of the "Right to Health" and "Right to Life" of the Petitioners herein and lakhs of similarly situated students, under Article 21," the petition stated.

The plea said the Civil Services Exam, being a recruitment examination, is altogether different from an academic examination and in the event of its postponement, there would not be any question of delay or loss of any academic session.

It said that due to non-availability of exam centres in their hometowns, many aspirants are facing "unimaginable" hardship due to non-availability of or unsafe health conditions in, the PG accommodation/ hostels/ hotels etc., where they are forced to stay with their family members, once they are travelling to an outstation Examination Centre. "It is pertinent to mention here that despite alarming spurt in COVID-19 pandemic, UPSC did not increase the number of Examination Centres, resulting into a situation where many candidates from rural areas will be forced to travel for around 300-400 Kilometres, in order to reach to their Examination Centres and there will be high probability of such aspirants, getting affected while using public transportation for such travel," the plea said.

Quick look

SC dumps PIL on suicides in IITs: The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed with cost a PIL on prevention of suicides in the various Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) across the country. A Bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman dismissed the plea terming it "utterly frivolous" and imposed a cost of Rs 10,000.

SC calls plea seeking intervention of court in IIT students suicides 'frivolous', imposes 10k cost on petitioner


SC calls plea seeking intervention of court in IIT students suicides 'frivolous', imposes 10k cost on petitioner

During the hearing, Bansal submitted that in the last five years, about 50 students have died by suicide. The plea sought the court's intervention and sought a direction to direct the Centre

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The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed with cost a PIL on prevention of suicides in the various Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) across the country. A Bench headed by Justice Rohinton F Nariman dismissed the plea terming it "utterly frivolous" and imposed a cost of Rs 10,000. The Bench said authorities, as evident from the petition, are alive to the situation. "The PIL is utterly frivolous and dismissed with cost of Rs 10,000," it ordered.

The PIL filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal has said that there was increasing number of suicides in IITs and sought the implementation of Section 29 of the Mental Healthcare Act. As per Section 29, Section 30 and Section 115 of Mental Healthcare Act, 2017, it is the fundamental duty of government and IITs to probe the cause of the rise of suicides in IITs campus and to plan, formulate and implement student health wellness programs in such a manner that the same shall reduce and prevent the suicide cases within their jurisdiction, the plea said.

During the hearing, Bansal submitted that in the last five years, about 50 students have died by suicide. The plea sought the court's intervention and sought a direction to direct the Centre, AIIMS and IITs to formulate and implement the "students wellness program". "Formulate and effectively implement student health wellness program focusing on prevention and reduction of suicides within their institutions as provided under Section 29 and Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act - 2017. Direct government, AIIMS, and IITs for providing aid, support, and advice to persons with suicidal thoughts through Call Centers / Helplines at Institute level," the plea said. The data gathered by the petitioner through RTI and through other means clearly shows that respondents have failed to consider the issue of rise in suicides in IITs and AIIMS-Delhi through health prospects, it added.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Why 'Politicising' NEET Isn't the Problem We Should Be Focused on - The Wire


Why 'Politicising' NEET Isn't the Problem We Should Be Focused on


Protests from Tamil Nadu on the medical entrance exam have a lot to teach us about how governance should work.



A NEET centre in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Photo: PTI

Yazhini P.M.

EDUCATIONGOVERNMENTHEALTH
8 HOURS AGO

“I am sorry, I am tired.” These are words from the suicide note written by M. Jothisri Durga, a 19-year-old NEET aspirant from Madurai who died on September 12 2020, for whom this NEET exam would have been the second attempt.

The same day also saw two other deaths by suicide – 20-year-old M. Adithya from Dharmapuri and 21-year-old M. Mothilal from Thiruchengode, both of whom were to attempt the NEET for the third time. On September 9, 2020, V. Vignesh, another 19-year-old aspirant from Ariyalur ended his life by jumping into a well. He too was set to attempt the NEET for the third time.

Going by the words of the Tamil Nadu chief minister, as of September 15, 2020, 13 students have taken their lives due to NEET exams. Further, on September 12, 2020, DMK chief and leader of opposition in Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin promised to abolish the NEET and revert to using higher secondary exam marks for admissions to medical colleges in Tamil Nadu. He also said that a suitable redressal would be effectuated for those aggrieved.

These promises were in line with all other regional parties and regional outfits of national parties, thereby signposting the essence of the Dravidian movement in the state of Tamil Nadu which sought to lower the entry barrier for students to enter professional courses through various mechanisms, including rationalising the reservation system, providing extra marks for first generation graduates, instituting quotas for rural candidates and the recent move by the present government to institute 7.5% seats for students from government schools.

While the focus of sustained anti-NEET protests centred in Tamil Nadu, an outcome of the suicide of S. Anitha, a NEET aspirant from Ariyalur who had scored 1,176 out of 1,200 in the state board’s higher secondary examination but failed the NEET, gives a perception that student suicides linked to NEET is endemic to Tamil Nadu. The phenomenon is rather pan-India, with numerous suicides every year happening in the coaching hubs for NEET and JEE like Kota in Rajasthan, Telangana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

The deaths reported as student suicides in Kota, for example, are 16 cases in 2015, 17 cases in 2016, seven cases in 2017 and 19 cases in 2018. The situation is far more serious in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, where in the year 2017, nearly 50 deaths were reported in the span of two months. While scores of deaths in these states doesn’t seem to evoke broad-based protests, Tamil Nadu reacts differently.

Also read: Exams and the Pandemic: Who Is Afraid of ‘Losing a Year’ of Education?

Conventional logic informs us that competitive exams revolve around the coaching class ecosystem which have grown around JEE and NEET. The high costs imposed on aspirants in turn skews their composition in terms of class, caste and gender. The question of representativeness of the successful aspirants is a cause of concern and strikes at the heart of the politics of aspiration and social justice prevalent in Tamil Nadu, especially given the lack of empirical evidence that this policy needed to replace the existing framework.

Tamil Nadu saw branches of every key coaching institute opening shop in major cities in the wake of the compulsory implementation of NEET in 2016, when the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre passed the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill. Prior to 2016, although NEET was in existence, freedom was provided for the states to opt out. Tamil Nadu had opted out.

The economics of NEET and the Kota system of dummy schools

The economics of NEET coaching classes is staggering, with the cost to a student in Kota, for example, amounting to at least Rs 5 lakh for higher secondary education and entrance coaching classes. The excessive focus on the entrance examinations is afforded at the cost of neglecting school education, through a system called ‘dummy school’, a disturbing outcome of the Kota system.

This enables an aspirant to register nominally in a school paying full fees wherein the attendance is taken care of, while they slog in the coaching institutes. The nexus between the coaching class institutes and the dummy schools is an open secret. With the mushrooming of coaching class institutes across India, the Kota system of ‘dummy schools’ is making its way into states like Punjab and Andhra Pradesh. The curious case of NEET 2018 topper Kalpana Kumari throws light on this dynamic – she prepared for NEET from Aakash Institute in Delhi as a regular student while having registered as a student of YKJM College at Sheohar, Bihar.

In addition to the financial burden on the aspirant, the increasing number of repeaters in the entrance examination system also decreases the possibility of first-time aspirants clearing the examination. Added to this is the toxic combination of high expectations from the family, peer pressure and pressure tactics from coaching centres. The students from socially and educationally disadvantaged groups – the OBC, SC and ST – face the added problem of the lack of role models, as many a times they are first generation higher education aspirants. In fact, it is the anticipated high cost of entry to coaching classes which self selects the class and in turn the caste and gender of the aspirants.

Lessons from the past

The reasons identified by Dr M. Anandhakrishnan, who headed the committee that led to the abolition of Common Entrance Test in Tamil Nadu in 2006, are worth problematising. In addition to the CET, Tamil Nadu had a system called improvement examination, which was introduced with the intention of helping genuine cases in which students fail to score good marks in their first attempt.

CET and improvement exams exacerbating the urban-rural divide and their sharp bias in favour of students who could afford the time and money were identified and cited as reasons to abolish the same in order to provide a level playing field. This move has to be seen from the perspective of the recent move by the University of California’s decision to stop requiring standardised tests (SAT and ACT) on the grounds that these tests are inherently biased in favour of affluent, White and Asian-American students.

Also read: NEET and Suriya: Freedom To Demur Is Not Contempt

Examples from IITs reveal the systemic issues surrounding the selection mechanism wherein women formed only 8% of the total students enrolled in IITs for the year 2016. OBC representations in IITs improved only after the implementation of constitutionally mandated 27% reservation for OBCs.

Resistance from Tamil Nadu

With the rationale for anti-NEET protests based in Tamil Nadu resting on the worldwide phenomenon of moving away from standardised tests which have high entry barriers, there is a certain unanimity among parties in Tamil Nadu with the exception of BJP and Puthiya Thamizhagam against NEET. Incidentally, questions are now raised regarding who is responsible for NEET examinations, with AIADMK and BJP claiming that it was DMK and Congress who are responsible.On the other hand, AIADMK (which claims to enjoy proximity to the BJP) was questioned by the Madras high court as to why it kept the state and the legislative assembly in the dark for almost two years about the president rejecting two NEET Bills in September 2017, which were passed unanimously in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly.

Notably, such a development was revealed only when the Centre filed an affidavit in response to a PIL petition filed by Tamil Nadu Students Parents Welfare. The affidavit later filed by the Centre with a detailed sequence of events related to the bills revealed that there was no response from the Centre for the 11 letters sent by the state government between 2017 and 2019 seeking reasons for withholding the assent.

Return to the past as the world strides forward

While the Centre remains mum on the reason for withholding the assent, questions related to the inherent biases of NEET remain unaddressed. When the world is moving towards providing a level playing field for the student community, India is forcefully persuading the states to enter into a well chartered territory of standardised examinations, with inherent biases to skew the class and caste composition of the selected cohort. Notably, even with the intervention by the government to increase women’s representation in IITs via creating supernumerary seats, the bias regarding affording coaching classes to achieve access is not eliminated.

Here lies the reason why issues around NEET are politicised along the lines of state autonomy in decision making and the concerns of the aspirational public, given that decision making by any government in relation to sectors like education is inherently political.

With a clamour for silencing voices against NEET, in the name of maintaining an apolitical public sphere in matters of education, a great deal of disservice is rendered to the student community and by extension, society. Those in power must listen to those on ground, and voices from below should inform policymaking.

Dr Yazhini P.M. is a registered medical practitioner from Government Theni Medical College and is currently based in Chennai. She tweets @yazhini_pm.

Friday, September 18, 2020

Is it Fair to Conduct JEE & NEET Amid Pandemic ? - QUINT,

 


Fair to Hold JEE Main & NEET UG Amid Pandemic? Students Debate

The Quint spoke to students who argued for and against JEE Main & NEET in September 2020.

Published: 
EDUCATION
2 min read

Video Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj



From contactless frisking to COVID declarations from aspirants to just 50 percent utilisation of test centres, the National Testing Agency is on a war-footing to conduct JEE Main and NEET UG 2020 in September 2020.

But are the students ready? Why is such a large section of aspirants opposing the exams in September? And what are the merits of conducting the entrances at the earliest?

In order to evaluate both the sides of the coin, The Quint spoke to JEE aspirant Aniket Mishra, who wants exams to be conducted in September, and to NEET aspirant Arushi Sarangi, who’s been very vocal for the need to postpone the exams.

Is it safe to conduct exams in September 2020?

Arushi Sarangi, NEET aspirant: “We have been given separate slots for entering the exam hall to avoid crowding. But there is no such slot for leaving the exam hall. Which means we can all imagine the crowd that'll be there. Also, there are so many exam centres. What is the guarantee that in each of these exam centres these measures will be followed?”

Aniket Mishra, JEE aspirant: “Those who want exams to be postponed can they give it in written that the situation of COVID-19 in November and December would be better? The SOPs are made by the NTA but the implementation has to be done by students. If the students don't implement them, what can the NTA do?

Won’t postponing exams delay the academic session?


Aniket Mishra, JEE aspirant: “We have already lost one semester, remember, one semester. If we conduct exams in November and December, maybe the full academic year will go to waste.”

Arushi Sarangi, NEET aspirant: “The ex-director of AIIMS and the Director of IIT Delhi have both claimed that they can adjust the academic calendar and it's very much possible by cutting down holidays and probably taking extra classes too.”

What about the students who can’t take the exams?


Aniket Mishra, JEE aspirant: “Due to floods or any transportation issue if students can't reach the exam centre, the authority should plan a special exam and the admission process should be special.”

Arushi Sarangi, NEET Aspirant: “If the exams take place in September, it will be a huge mass injustice to students and their families too. For many people, it is their last attempt and it is not their fault that they would be missing the exam either because they have the COVID-19 infection or because of fear.”

Watch the video above for the full debate.

The Quint is available on Telegram & WhatsApp too, click to join.

The bereaved need therapy, not compensation


The bereaved need therapy, not compensation
Source :SIFY
Author :SIFY
Last Updated: Wed, Sep 16th, 2020, 10:29:08hrs



Political parties are used to viewing every unnatural death as an opportunity—the ruling parties in the state get leverage with the centre, the opposition parties have a new bullet point in their litany of complaints against the ruling party, the ones that don’t matter get to enjoy their fifteen minutes of fame by sending their leaders to meet bereaved families and make the right or wrong noises about competitive examinations and police brutality and government ineptitude.

Journalists who have been crawling like maggots around the homes and workplaces of the dead will be glad to have something to report—the amount of compensation received from each party, the views of each political leader, the reactions of the disaster tourists joining the brood of maggots.

Every time a student commits suicide, we blame the “system”. The National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) has been a sore point with several states since its inception. Politicians claim, and the public agree, that the competitive exam imposes an unfair disadvantage on those who have not had an elite education. What is does for certain is take away a point on their manifestos—they can no longer make promises on behalf of medical education. It levels the playing field in theory, and eventually will in practice.

But the problem is not competitive examinations. Every examination, even relatively unimportant ones, has been a trigger for student suicides. Students often leave behind letters saying they were afraid of the results—not simply because a low score would deprive them of further education, but because they were afraid of the reactions of their families, or were unable to live with the guilt of having been a financial burden on their families and not delivered on the investment.

We will have to live with the fact that there needs to be a gauge for qualification for entry into colleges, and then another gauge for qualification for entry into employment, particularly when performing one’s duties involves being responsible for the health and even lives of others. Examinations have been one of these gauges. There are others too.

An invisible gauge is one’s passion for the subject.

How many students writing the NEET, or any other competitive exam such as the IIT-JEE, or the UPSC, have a passion for the course that their careers will take if they were to succeed in the examination? How many more take the examination for the sake of the honour and prestige and parental or societal approval and validation that those careers will guarantee?

The villains are not the examinations. Among the three students who killed themselves in Tamil Nadu on the eve of the examinations, one had spoken of being afraid of letting her parents down and written several times that she could not handle the pressure; another had excelled in the mock examination.

The villains are not the parents either.

What kills people is the fear of betraying expectations, the shame of being a burden on their families.

And when political parties compete to dole out compensation to the bereaved, they set a trend.

Farmer suicides have been attributed not simply to the failure of monsoons, but the hope that they will be able to look after their families in death better than they could in life—whether life insurance pays off or not, the government and opposition compensation certainly will tide their families through the financial crisis.

What the bereaved need is not a channel for blame. Screaming about the unfairness of NEET converts their guilt into anger, and allows them to blame an idea or person instead of blaming themselves. The media is happy to latch on to this. The Twitterati tweet.

But in the privacy of their homes, away from the spotlight, knowing all the money in the world will not bring back their dear departed, the bereaved do feel guilt.

In the case of other unnatural deaths—unrelated to examinations, but either suicide or homicide or the result of negligence too—the families are struggling with guilt and grief. It is bad enough when someone dies of natural causes—one wonders what one could have done that might have saved them. Knowing that the person would be alive if not for a moment of negligence or hatred or self-loathing or other transient cause is a permanent source of torment.

It has always been my belief that all of us need some form of professional mental healthcare. Just as we have physical health check-ups every now and again, we ought to have our minds checked too.

People who have been through trauma need this urgently. They need their ways out of the darkness. The idea of compensation was to make up for the loss of a breadwinner. However, at the rate at which it is being doled out by vested interests, “compensation” has begun to feel like blood money.

If the government does care about its citizens, it cannot limit its aid to payouts.

More Columns by Nandini Krishnan:

Friday, September 11, 2020

The Community Has a Critical Role in Suicide Prevention


The Community Has a Critical Role in Suicide Prevention
Published on September 10, 2020

Mumbai : Suicide is a social issue and not an individual problem. An online discussion on “Suicide Prevention: The Importance of Community” hosted by YourDOST, India’s largest online counseling and emotional support platform designed to foster mental health, today appealed for more efforts from the community to raise suicide prevention awareness. The panel discussion was held to mark World Suicide Prevention Day.

60-Second Quiz Reveals What Type Of Parent You Are

The panelists included 
Dr Seema Sharma, clinical psychologist; 
Ms. Sandhya Menon, Independent writer, journalist and a suicide survivor; 
Rajesh R Pillai, lawyer and President of Befrienders India; 
and 
Raashi Thakran, a certified QPR trainer, and a suicide loss survivor. 

The discussion was moderated by 
Dr. Jini K Gopinath, Clinical Psychologist and Chief Psychology Officer, YourDOST.

India has been witnessing an increasing number of deaths by suicide. According to data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), since 2007, there has been a 52% increase in the number of suicides among youth in India, with an average 26 suicides taking place every day, or one every hour. These grim figures are alarming enough for the society to bring about a fundamental change in its approach towards mental and emotional issues.

Commenting on the community’s responsibility in the massive increase in suicide rates, Advocate Mr. Pillai said, “Community has a big role to play since not all suicides are due to mental illness but also due to apathy and lack of avenues to express oneself. Being able to share one’s grief and air their trauma is a basic need of a human being. A systematic change at every level to create a more supportive ecosystem is imperative – from family to teachers to Governments, everyone has a role to play in avoiding these instances.”
Dr. Sharma said, “Suicides due to life events or psycho-social situations deserve much greater attention. Generally as a society we are not very supportive, rather judgmental especially when it is about mental wellness, personal choices, grief, and trauma. Any individual showing suicidal tendencies or contemplating a drastic step needs a listening ear and compassion. We should use available resources such as community elders, especially in rural areas where professional help is limited, who can give time, listen with empathy and without judgment.”

Ms. Raashi, a YourDOST mental wellness champion who has been actively driving a campaign for the launch of a National Suicide Prevention Helpline lost her brother to suicide and eventually her own mental health deteriorated. She shared her life experience and issues with PTSD and anxiety, “Death does not happen to the person that dies. It also happens to the people left behind. I started struggling after my brother’s demise. Doctors helped me a lot, so did medication. But what really helped me was talking about it. I now know how important suicide prevention is and that led me to delve further into this. The data was scary. That prompted me to work towards prevention awareness”.
Earlier this week, the Central Government launched a 24X7 toll free mental rehabilitation helpline (KIRAN) for providing psychological support to people.

Ms. Sandhya, mental wellness writer and a survivor spoke about her own experience with suicidal attempts and triggers, “7 years ago, I was diagnosed with depression. I had a tough time being a single mother to two kids and increasing financial challenges. An argument with a family member triggered my first attempt. I felt not understood. I was expressing myself on social media instead of talking to my friends. I could never reach out and say I need help”.

The session lasted for over 60 minutes and touched topics that are generally considered a taboo such as dysfunctional families, poor consideration towards mental health, non-judgmental acceptance and practicing empathy without criticism. The panelists answered the viewers’ questions before signing off.

The panelists suggested a three-step actionable plan for suicide prevention:

1.)Look: Look for warning signs which may be physical, verbal, or non-verbal 

2.) Listen: Actively listen to the person, 

and 3.) Link: Link those needing help with the various stakeholders/professionals/ volunteers.

Concluding the session, 
Dr. Gopinath, YourDOST said

“Suicide is not just a psychological issue. It is a psycho-social issue. As a society, we miss the clues. We need to be mindful of signs from the psychological perspective. Listen actively and carefully. Link people in need with the experts and volunteers who can lend an empathetic ear”.

About YourDOST:

Headquartered in Bengaluru, YourDOST, is a leading start-up company that provides mental wellness services through an innovative technology platform. It anonymously connects people with the right expert consisting of Psychologists, Counselors, Career Guides for guidance related to anxiety, relationships, career, academics, sexual wellness, self-improvement and more. through completely confidential individual sessions. 

Founded by Mr. Puneet Manuja, an IIM- Bangalore alumnus and Ms. Richa Singh, an IIT-Guwahati alumna in 2015, YourDOST has so far impacted over 2 million lives in India. They work with 100+ top corporates and colleges all over India and have also tied up with state and central government agencies for counseling support.