Concerned over the spate of suicides by school children earlier this year, Maharashtra home minister R R Patil today said the 103 helpline would provide them assistance.
"The helpline would provide help for youngsters bellow 21 years for dealing with emotional or other problems in their life," Patil informed the Legislative Council.
The helpline initially would work for Mumbai region only and later for other cities, Patil said while replying to a discussion about rising number of children suicides in the state.
Presenting the data gathered by the home department on the issue, Patil said 47 suicides took place in Mumbai and Nagpur during last year. Even a small town like Yavatmal in Vidarbha saw 39 such cases, he added.
More number of girls committed suicide compared to boys. Altogether 52 per cent suicide victims were girls, he said.
The reasons found by the police stated that 46% cases were due to education pressure, 16% due to fear of failure in exams, eight per cent due to pressure from parents, break ups in relations and illness and 11% due to family pressure, Patil said.
In order to curb suicides among children, Patil said education experts, parents and teachers should come together.
Awareness should also be created among students and parents, he said.
