Say 'No' to Ragging
This was quite a menace in the past and though the trend has been curbed due to strict legal actions, ragging continues to trouble the freshers. The word itself has a negative connotation and coveys a feeling of being ragged off one's self respect.
Ragging may have started as a friendly ice breaker between existing and new students, it took an ugly turn with the loss of many young lives. Though the government has tried its best to be strict, students looking to enter college should make a conscious effort to know the law to be able to take the right actions.
What does the UGC say?
As the new millennium unveiled itself, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Supreme Court (SC) came up with strict directive for universities to curb ragging on their respective campuses. In fact, the Advocates Committee recommendations went to the length of suggesting that the financial assistance to institutions who fail to take remedial measures should be stopped or suspended.
Constant reminders were also recommended, which included:
- Written undertakings from students at the time of admission and beginning of the academic session everyyear to the effect that they will not instigate or indulge in ragging. Similar undertakings from parents and guardians to the effect they will abide by the punishment to their wards against ragging
- Constitution of vigilance committee in every institution against ragging that would include faculty members, wardens and senior students
- I-cards to have one-line pledge against ragging, and migration certificates to have records of past offences related to ragging
- Sign boards throughout the institution - at hostel entrances, cashier, and administration offices - to display telephone numbers where students can register complaints against ragging
Strict actions
It was also recommended that students found guilty of ragging should be penalized too. Penalties that were proposed included suspension, withdrawing or withholding fellowships and scholarships, withholding or cancelling results, cancellation of admission, expulsion and rustication fine of up to Rs 10,000.
Since then, it has been twelve years. Most major universities in India have been able to curb rampant ragging. Yet, we can still find stray instances of extreme ragging that are fatal at times.
In 2009, the Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) - an anti-ragging NGO - claimed that as manyas nine teenagers lost their lives to ragging every year while hundreds were disabled, injured, or hospitalised due to it. Sexual and physical abuse was found to be quite rampant in colleges and was quite often part of sadistic ragging incidents.
In December that year, the Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE), another voluntary organisation working against ragging in India, lodged a complaint against ‘3 Idiots' for showing ‘ragging' in a lighter vein, and not as the menace it really is. The study by CURE stated that 88 ragging cases were reported in the year 2008-09, in which twelve students had died and another five had tried to commit suicide.
What can you do?
Ragging has been recognized as being against the Human rights of a person. And like any other right, you can fight for it. If you or your friends have been a victim of ragging, the next course of action could be decided after talking to counsellors. Whatever may be the case, by leaving it un-reported you would only add to its growth.
Under the Right to Information, students are empowered to get a copy of the anti-ragging declaration of the college and file a complaint without disclosing his/her identity against the ‘raggers'. Student should proactively get to know their rights and be on guard. Police has also been guided to take care of such cases on priority and give a quick resolution.
This year too, a few ragging cases made media headlines. However, quick action was taken by respective discipline committees to administer justice on the perpetrators of crime. This can be seen as a positive development this year.
Here are some of the cases that have come to light this year:
- 4th January, 2012 - A senior student of government medical college in Jhalawar was suspended after he was found to have indulged in ragging his juniors. The seniors of the college had dragged the juniors from their rooms and had made them stand in unusual postures for hours. Those who refused to follow the commands were beaten up severely.
- 6th January, 2012 - Three students, including a girl, were expelled from Motihari Engineering College in Bihar on charges of ragging. Four students of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) at Chheb in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh were also suspended for a year for ragging 20 first-year students.
- 28th March, 2012 - Two final-year students of DU's Ramjas College were suspended for ragging students on campus. The enquiry is pending. They may be expelled from the college, if they are found guilty.
- 30th March, 2012 - The steps by anti-ragging committees and the Supreme Court directives could not save Ajmal, an aeronautical engineering student of Chikkabellapur Shahib Engineering College, from the clutches of death. Allegedly, Ajmal died because of the burn injuries he sustained while being ragged by seniors.
- 16th June, 2012 - Buoyed by the fact that no ragging students were reported last year, Coimbatore police is taking measures to keep city colleges ragging-free this year too. Drop boxes have been placed outside city colleges. Students can also send mail to City Police Commissioner A K Vishwanathan directly or SMS him to 9843100100, to report any incident of ragging.
- 18th June, 2012 - A key decision to stop ragging was to appoint Rajender Kachroo at the helm of the UGC's anti-ragging helpline. The number of this 24 X 7 helpline is toll-free - 1800-180-5522. One can also contact the helpline at helpline@antiragging.net. Kachroo has been one of the harshest critics of how this helpline works. He had dedicated his life to eradicate ragging from colleges ever since he lost his son Aman Kachroo in a case of brutal ragging at a medical college in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh in 2009. It was due to his efforts that the Supreme Court ordered the UGC to establish a pan-India anti-ragging helpline as well as a complaints monitoring committee.
On the same day, three students of the Pandit Deendaya Upadhyaya Institute for the Physically Handicapped were arrested and sent in judicial custody for ragging and assaulting a first year student. It is alleged that one of them had asked the victim for a sum of Rs 250 or a bottle of whiskey. When he refused, he was hit on the head with a wicket. The victim called the cops. Next day, the seniors again kicked, punched, and thrashed him with a stick as revenge. As a result, the victim landed up in an emergency ward of the LNJP Hospital.
UP govt. has taken a tough stance on ragging. Students found guilty of ragging in technical colleges could be expelled from college for five years with a ban on taking admission in any other college across the state. If any witnesses are indicted, they could also be held punishable under the law for a minimum of two years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000. A 24 X 7 anti-ragging helpline will also be established for all engineering, management and medical colleges as well as professional institutes in the state.
- 27th June, 2012 - M Prakash, a son of a farmer of a village near Kancheepuram, did not do well in Class XII exams and decided to join the Government Arts and Science College in Nandanam. However, when he asked the way to office in the college from a group of students, he was asked to bow at their feet. Mortally afraid of ragging, he ran away. Later, he lodged a police complaint against the students. One of them - C Mandikandan - was arrested and hunt is on for five others under Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Anti-Ragging (Prevention) Act and IPC Section 392 (robbery).
- 6th July, 2012 - Ragging plagues school students too. Plus One students of the Government Model Residential School at Pattuvam boycotted their classes and threatened to discontinue their studies, if no action is taken against the senior students who ragged them. They alleged that the seniors not only harassed them physically and mentally but also destroyed their belongings. Last year too, many students had left the school without informing the authorities.
- 13th July, 2012 - Delhi University is gearing up to curb ragging in colleges with the help of the police. Classes are soon going to start on July 23, 2012. Hence, DU has asked colleges and departments to form anti-ragging committees and squads, and deal firmly with any ragging incidents. Students who indulge in ragging may face suspension, expulsion, and/or cancellation of their degree.
- 25th July, 2012 - The Haryana government has implemented the “Haryana Prohibition of Ragging in Educational Institution Ordinance, 2012” to reinforce the anti-ragging drive. The state has issued directives to the heads of all educational institutions of Haryana to prevent ragging on their campuses, failing which they will face six months’ imprisonment, in addition to payment of hefty fine.
- 27th July, 2012 - With the commencement of the new academic year, the HRD ministry has launched an anti-ragging website so that students of universities, colleges and professional institutes can report ragging cases online. The UGC managed portal has been launched to provide swift response to complaints against ragging or harassment, reported the Times of India. Rajendra Kachroo, who lost his son to ragging at a medical college in 2009, has been entrusted with the management and monitoring of the portal and helpline under the UGC.
- 7th August, 2012 - Following the UGC directives, colleges are increasingly using the 'anti ragging affidavit' as an effective tool to curb the incidence of ragging on their campuses. Most of the engineering, medical and management institutes have made such an affidavit mandatory for all students. Many colleges are involving parents too, so that they do not complain if their ward is punished for ragging juniors.
- 8th August, 2012 - Five final-year students of L S Raheja College of Art in Bandra have been found guilty of ragging and harassing juniors. A group of 11 juniors, including five girls, lodged a complaint with the Bandra Government Railway Police that they were humiliated and roughed up on a local train on July 26. GRP got in touch with the college management. The college has suspended the five seniors accused of ragging.
With ragging moving out of the college campuses, educational institutions are worried what to do next. They do have 'zero tolerance policy' in place but are helpless if freshers are ragged outside institute premises. They urge victims to report any incident of ragging and harassment and assure them that strict action will be taken against the perpetrators.
IIT Kanpur and other colleges have got an affidavit signed by students stating that they will not indulge in ragging. IIT-K is also conducting night raids at hostels. The institute made it clear that students caught exploiting freshers in any form will be expelled from the college. -
12th August, 2012 - As many as 55 DU colleges are participating in the anti-drugs and anti-ragging (ADAR) campaign, recently organised by Leaders for Tomorrow Foundation, an NGO working for the youth, in association with the Delhi Police. Soon, other universities including Ambedkar University (AUD) Delhi and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) will also join the campaign.
This year, HRD Ministry has received 67 complaints of ragging from first-year college students across the country through national anti-ragging helpline. 16 cases have been closed by the ministry and inquiries are being conducted for rest of the cases.
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