RAGGING-NOW AND THEN……..

Dear All,

When I joined my college 4 years back, first question my parents inquired about, whenever I called back home was regarding ragging. Not only me but my entire family was stressed out due to the daemon called ragging. We were treated as if we were the least wanted species on earth. We were made to do everything that as human we were not supposed to do. In the garb of introducing us to college life, our seniors made our life hellish. We had to make class notes for seniors, take their cloths to laundry and complete their lab manuals etc. Some amongst us dared to complaint to authorities, but hardly any action was taken.

But there was a silver lining in this gloomy picture. By the end of first semester we all were bound into a family. We would get all the books and notes from our seniors. They cared about us like our elder brother. The best part was your ‘boss’ (this is what we called our seniors) would never let you pay for anything. Suppose you were in the college canteen and your boss happened to come there, then he would have to pay for whatever you eat. So this was the price that seniors had to pay for entire four years.

But every junior didn’t have such a happy ending to his story. Many like Durgesh Shukla, Chetan Raj, S. P. Manoj lost their life or were forced to commit suicide due to ragging menace. Finally impelled by Aman Kachroo's death, University Grants Commission (UGC) framed UGC Regulations on curbing the menace ofragging in Higher Educational Institutions, 2009, in order to prohibit, prevent and eliminate the scourge of ragging in Indian Universities. This has made ragging a criminal Offence.

In addition, Apex court has issued following directives to be implemented without any further lapse of time
(1)The   punishment   to   be   meted   out   has   to   be   exemplary and justifiably harsh to act as a deterrent against recurrence of such incidents.
(2)  Every   single   incident   of  ragging where   the   victim   or his parent/guardian   or   the   Head   of   institution   is   not   satisfied   with  the institutional arrangement for action, a First Information Report (FIR) must be filed without exception by the institutional authorities with the local police authorities. Any   failure   on   the   part   of   the   institutional   authority   or negligence or deliberate delay in lodging the FIRwith the local police shall be   construed   to   be   an   act   of   culpable   negligence   on   the   part   of   the institutional   authority.  If   any   victim   or   his   parent/guardian   of  ragging intends   to   file   FIR   directly   with   the   police,   that   will   not   absolve   the institutional authority from the requirement of filing the FIR.
(3) Courts   should   make   an   effort   to   ensure   that   cases   involving ragging are taken up on  a priority basis to send the correct messagethat ragging is not only to be discourages but also to be dealt with sternness.
(4) In   addition,   the court directed the   possibility   of   introducing   in   the educational   curriculum   a   subject   relating   to   ragging shall   beexplored   by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) and the   respective   State   Council   of   Educational  Research   and   Training (SCERT).     This   aspect   can   be   included   in   the   teaching   of   the   subjects "Human Rights".
(5)  In the prospectus   to   be   issued   for   admission   by   educational institutions,   it   shall   be   clearly   stipulated   that   in   case   the   applicant  for admission is found to have indulged in ragging in the past or

if it is noticed later that he has indulged in ragging, admission may be refused or he shallbe expelled from the educational institution.
(6) The Central Government and the State Governments shall launch a programme   giving   wide   publicity   to   the   menace   of   ragging and   theconsequences   which   follow   in   case   any   student   is   detected   to   have   been involved in ragging.
(7) It   shall   be   the   collective   responsibility   of   the   authorities   and functionaries of the concerned institution and their role shall also be open toscrutiny for the purpose of finding out whether they have taken effective steps   for   preventing   ragging and   in   case   of   their   failure,   action  can   be taken; for example, denial of any grant-in-aid or assistance from the State Governments.
(8) Anti-ragging committees and squads shall be forthwith formed by the institutions and   it shall be   the job   of   the   committee or   the squad, as thecase   may   be,   to   see   that   the   Committee's   recommendations, particularly those noted above, are observed without exception and if it isnoticed that there is any deviation, the same shall be forthwith brought to the notice of this court.
(9) The   Committee   constituted   pursuant   to   the   order   of   this  Court shall   continue   to   monitor   the   functioning   of   the   anti-ragging committees and the squads to be formed.  They shall also monitor the implementation of the recommendations to which reference has been made above.


These steps have drastically reduced the ragging. Many colleges have been successful in establishing ‘zero ragging campus’.There have been two severe impacts of Anti-ragging act by UGC-
1) Most students don’t dare to promote or encourage ragging activities due to heavy penalties and punishment that they may invite if they are caught.2) College has no option but to take stern steps if any genuine ragging incident is reported by any student. (For details refer http://www.ugc.ac.in/ragging.html)

This is a good news for all parents and children who are too tensed in apprehension of ragging. With UGS empowering you with Anti ragging act, you may not be ragged at all. I personally feel that you should not mind if you are asked to introduce yourself. But anything beyond that, you1)can access the Toll Free Helpline 1800-180-5522 and register your complaint
Or
2) contact Ed. CIL (India) Limited, Ed.CIL House, 18A, Sector-16A, Noida-201 301, UP.

Wishing you a ragging free and success full college life

Your Elder Brother.

Posted in: RAGGING