Rousing welcome to anti-ragging campaign

Updated on: Tuesday, September 07, 2010

It is a journey with a difference, and a social mission. ‘Bus Aur Nahin', a branded bus carrying a message against ragging, is on a mission to build a platform for students to speak out against this heinous crime on the campuses.

The bus, which began its journey from New Delhi on August 11, had already covered Jaipur, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderbad and Bangalore before arriving at Kozhikode for the Kerala leg of its journey.

An initiative of Muthoot Pappachan Foundation, the bus will travel across 11 cities in the country and will halt at 45 colleges/ institutions. In its sojourn to Kerala, it has been visiting 10 colleges/ institutions. The campaign will have its grand finale in Chennai.

On August 31, the bus arrived at Kozhikode to continue with its Kerala leg of anti-ragging cross country campaign. The campaign was flagged off on the IIM-K campus at Kunnamangalam. The bus has been campaigning on selected campuses in the State for six days. Cochin College, Kochi; CMS College, Kottayam and Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram (on September 6), were some of the destinations of the bus in the State.

In Kozhikode, the bus campaigned at the National Institute of Technology, Calicut (NIT-C) besides the IIM-K. The foundation has also rolled out a signature campaign among students against ragging as part of the programme. The campaign, according to the organisers, is expected to act as a platform for student communities to speak up against ragging and take a pledge that they would not indulge in ragging on their campuses.

Mathrubhumi managing director P.V. Chandran flagged off the bus along with R. Raju, Associate Vice President of Muthoot Finance Group and the faculty representatives and students of the IIM-K.

Speaking about the initiative, Thomas George Muthoot, Director, Muthoot Pappachan Group, said it was launched with an objective to create awareness about the menace of ragging among the student communities.

He said that the campaign had received good response from across the country starting from New Delhi. According to the organisers, the ‘Bus Aur Nahin' campaign will also be supported with two short films that will be telecast over major national news and youth-focused channels. Students across the nation can also express their solidarity to the anti-ragging cause by logging into the social networking site Facebook's page www.facebook.com/busaurnahin2010.

Students can register their college name on Facebook and the college with maximum participation will be awarded ‘India's fresher-friendly college'.
At Kochi

Hundreds of students at SCMS Cochin gave a rousing welcome to the campaign, when the bus arrived to the city on September 2. G.P.C. Nayar, Chairman, SCMS Group, and Thomas George Muthoot, Director, Muthoot Pappachan Group jointly flagged off the bus at the Muttom campus of the college.

Mr. George said that the campaign has received overwhelming response with over 22,000 signatures from students who have pledged to oppose ragging. “We are serious about the anti-ragging campaign, as all of us are affected by the menace, a lot more than many students or their parents are willing to admit,” he said.

Pointing out that the campaign gave a great opportunity for student community to speak up against ragging, Joseph K. Jose, MBA student of SCMS, said that the programme helped him understand that ragging is a social evil and it should be eradicated.

Sruthi Balakrishnan, a management student, said that the campaign helped in changing her views on ragging. “I had earlier thought that it (ragging) was fun when you are a senior and nightmare as a junior. But this event helped in sowing the seeds of anti-ragging in me, she said. Sreepriya, an MBA student, said that the campaign was unique, as it encouraged students to take a pledge against ragging.

The bus also received an enthusiastic welcome at St. Teresa's College and Cochin College, where several students turned up to join hands against the menace.
At Kottayam

The bus reached the Baselius College in Kottayam to a grand welcome on September 3. At the college, the campaign was received by college principal Prof. Jacob Kurian Onattu and a large number of students. A pledge against ragging was administered by the principal. Later students signed on a huge canvas to show solidarity with the campaign.

Prof. Onattu told The Hindu-EducationPlus that his college has taken a firm stand against ragging and have conducted several awareness programmes to prevent cases of ragging in the campus.

“A 28-page Anti-Regulations book, released by the Central Government, is distributed among all students at the time of admission. Moreover, it is also mandatory for students and their guardians to sign on a form, which prohibits him/her from committing unwanted acts in the campus. Such measures have been effective in countering ragging in the Baselius College,” he said.

Rousing welcome to anti-ragging campaign

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