Recently, the members of Ragging Free Campus Abhiyan (RFCA) met the Governor to appraise him the state of affairs of the ragging menace in Odisha and sought his intervention to check it. The incident of ragging at the BJB College in Bhubaneswar and the Balangir medico ragging case where both victims committed suicide once again brought the problem into limelight. Odisha has always remained in the list of five top States when it comes to ragging as per the anti-ragging helpline (1800-180-5522) of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The national helpline was set up as per the directions of the Supreme Court after the death of Aman Kachroo in 2009.
Ragging entered the academic institutions as a fun game intended to mix with the newcomers but gradually turned into a notorious life-threatening mental game. As per the Supreme Court’s order and subsequent UGC notification, ragging constitutes one or more of any intention by any student or group of students on (a) any act of indiscipline, Teasing or Handling with Rudeness, (b) any activity which is likely to cause Annoyance, hardship, Psychological Harm or creates Fear or Apprehension, (c) any Act of Financial Extortion or Forceful Expenditure, (d) any Act of Physical Abuse causing Assault, Harm or danger to Health, (e) any Act of abuse by spoken words, emails, SMS or public insult, etc. (f) any act of wrongful confinement, kidnapping, molesting or committing unnatural offences, use of criminal forces, trespass or intimidation and (g) any unlawful assembly or conspiracy to ragging.
The UGC has instructed all universities and colleges to take adequate steps to stop ragging in their campuses. It has mad mandatory to the students and parents to submit undertakings every year that they will not indulge in ragging activities and stringent action can be taken against them in case they indulge in such activities.
Institutions were instructed to form anti-ragging committees, cells and squads in their campuses to curb the ragging menace. It shall be the duty of the Anti-Ragging Committee to ensure compliance with the provisions of these regulations as well as the provisions of any law for the time being in force concerning ragging and also to monitor and oversee the performance of the Anti-Ragging Squad in prevention of ragging.
The punishment for the students who indulge is ragging may include suspension from attending classes and academic privileges; withholding/ withdrawing scholarship/ fellowship and other benefits; ebarring from appearing in any test/ examination or other evaluation process; withholding results; debarring from representing the institution in any regional, national or international meet, tournament, youth festival, etc.; suspension/ expulsion from the hostel; cancellation of admission; rustication from the institution for period ranging from one to four semesters; expulsion from the institution and consequent debarring from admission to any other institution for a specified period.
Many institutions think that in case of ragging, stringent punishment will be given to the students, they are not aware that they are also liable to be prosecuted for negligence. As per the Supreme Court order, regulations shall have to be enforced strictly and penal consequences for the heads of the institutions/ administration of the institution for not taking timely steps in the prevention of ragging and punishing those who rag. In addition to penal consequences, departmental enquiries must be initiated against such heads institutions/ members of the administration/ faculty members/ nonteaching staff, who display an apathetic or insensitive attitude towards complaints of ragging. Similarly, a ragging incident in an institution will adversely impact its accreditation, ranking and grading by the NAAC or similar accreditation institutions.
The freshers will step into the campuses now as Plus Three and Plus Two admissions are to begin. Adequate measures are to be taken by the Department of Higher Education to check the menace. In its letter dated 3rd August, 2022, the department directed all universities and colleges to take preventive measures as per the UGC-notified Regulations for Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions-2009. The institutions are instructed to distribute pamphlets, organise workshops, form anti-ragging squads, install CCTV cameras and filing FIRs in case of established cases of ragging.
A student can register a ragging complaint with the anti-ragging cell of his/ her college or with the UGC helpline or by mailing the complaint to helpline@antiragging.in odishaantiraggingcell@gmail.com. But before this, the institution has to make all arrangements for the popularisation of the anti-ragging cell members and their phone numbers. Sensitisation programmes are to be conducted from time to time for all students so that the victims will come forward for complaining when an incident takes place. CCTVs are to be installed at vital points of the campus. The website of the institution is to be updated with the details of the nodal officers dealing with the ragging problem.
All these efforts can change the mindset of the students who are planning for ragging and discourage them to do so. Posters approved by the UGC are to be displayed at prominent places in the campus. Pamphlets are to be printed and circulated so that every student can know about the consequences of ragging. A ragging-free atmosphere is to be created with dedicated efforts of the institution’s management.
A District Level Meeting is to be convened by the District Committee for the selected administrators and academicians every year before the beginning of the academic session to make all educational institutions aware. One or two district-level workshops should be conducted where all the Principals will discuss the preventive measures. The Supreme Court directions and the UGC instructions are to be thoroughly understood by the institution heads so that they can remain vigilant and take adequate steps for checking the menace in their respective institutions. The District Committee should watch and monitor the situation in the colleges and take appropriate steps for curbing the menace.
Prevention is better than cure. If proper care is taken for spreading awareness in the campus among the students on the problem of ragging and its consequences, the menace can be checked to a great extent.
(Dr Biswal is Principal, Nabarangpur College)