Drive to weed out ragging

Updated on: Tuesday, July 21, 2009

he State has launched a concerted drive to weed out the menace of ragging from the campuses. Universities and colleges joined hands in the anti-ragging campaign launched during the first week of July.

The move is part of the ongoing initiatives to curb the barbarism of the campus kind and to instil confidence among the newcomers on campuses.

State Higher Education Council, State Legal Services Authority, National Services Scheme and Cochin University of Science and Technology are the participating agencies in the anti-ragging drive. National University of Advanced Legal Studies (NUALS) is co-ordinating the campaign activities.
Helplines

Stating that the State and university level helplines will be set up as part of the ongoing efforts to check the menace of ragging, Education Minister M.A. Baby said that the helplines will enable students to submit their complaints against ragging swiftly.

The Minister stressed the need to introduce monitoring committees at the university and college levels to track activities related to ragging on campuses. Stating that a concerted effort was required to combat ragging, the Minister said that attempts should be made to create social awareness against ragging.

He urged the Vice-Chancellors and other stakeholders in higher education to join hands in the fight against the menace.

Mr. Baby also suggested involving college unions in the campaign against ragging.

Encouraging the stakeholders to unitedly fight against the menace of ragging, Kurian Joseph, Kerala High Court judge and Chairman of the State Legal Services Authority, said that a committee appointed by the authority consisting of a judicial officer, a police officer above the rank of DySP, and a social worker will visit campuses to spread awareness against ragging.

The team will distribute leaflets highlighting various aspects of ragging, he said. Mr. Joseph said that the authority will also initiate steps to teach students about the ill effects of ragging.

“Ragging is disorderly conduct. Ragging has its origin in western countries where practical jokes were played by seniors at the time of welcoming freshers to the institutions.

But in our country, it has lost its order, degrading to the level of torture and humiliation, both physical and mental and that gave rise to the Kerala Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1998,” Mr. Joseph said.

Pointing out that the stories of ragging taking place in educational institutions all over the country were indeed shocking, N.K. Jayakumar, Vice-Chancellor of NUALS, said that the most barbaric and criminal acts are being perpetrated by groups of perverse and sadistic students in the name of innocent fun or a familiarisation process.

According to the guidelines issued against ragging, every college should have an anti-ragging committee headed by the head of the institution. The committee should include representatives of civil administration, police administration, faculty members, local media, NGOs, parents, freshers, senior students, and non-teaching staff.
Anti-ragging squad

The anti-ragging squad should be nominated by the head of the institution. It should be alert against incidents of ragging. The squad should conduct surprise raids in hostels and other hot spots and be empowered to inspect places of potential ragging. It should work under the overall guidance of the anti-ragging committee.

The monitoring cell should mainly oversee and involve senior students, as mentors for the freshers. This cell should be formed at the end of every academic year.

There should be as many levels of tiers of mentors as the number of batches of institutions. Vice-Chancellors will give directions to Principals to hold anonymous random surveys among first year students every fortnight during the first three months of the academic session in order to verify and crosscheck whether the campus is indeed free of ragging.

The complaints against ragging could be oral or written and even from third parties and the confidentiality of the source of information must be protected at all costs. Remedial action must be initiated and completed within the week of the incident itself, so that the culprit does not tamper evidence or influence witnesses.

Colleges should give wide publicity by installing permanent boards displaying definition of ragging and its punishments on the campus especially in hostels.
Counsellors

Professional counsellors should be engaged to counsel freshers in order to prepare them for the life ahead. The head of the institution should address all freshers on the first day of the academic session, and educate them about their rights against harassment of any kind including ragging.

Faculty members must be present on the occasion.

Drive to weed out ragging

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