Four agriculture college students complain of ragging

Four first-year BSc (agriculture) students of Shivajinagar-based Agriculture College have complained of ragging by seniors to the college authorities.

They alleged that they were being ragged and humiliated by second-year students for the last two months.

The incident came to light last Saturday when the uncle of an aggrieved student visited the hostel and found the seniors ragging their juniors.

After receiving the complaint from the student’s uncle, Vilas Ekhande-Patil, and the four students, members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (ABVS), led by Vidyavatsal Annapraada, brought the matter to the notice of the college management.

The dean of the college, BR Ulmek, and acting hostel rector, RM Naik, decided to probe the matter and formed a committee headed by GB Gutal.

“We have already recorded statements of the aggrieved students as well as the offenders,” Ulmek said.

The aggrieved students, Pravin Gopalrao Shelke (Jalna), Ashok Shivajirao Shewale (Beed), Pravin Surve and Amol Borkar (Wasim), lodged a complaint with the committee.

Naik said that the aggrieved students in their statements had said that their seniors, out of whom nine have been identified, used to slap on the back of their heads, forced them to complete their practical journals and manuals and humiliated them on roads and on the college campus.

“The senior students are pursuing their second year BSc in horticulture,” college officials said.

The first-year students stay in D Block hostel while the seniors stay in C Block. The distance between both the buildings is about 50 metres.

The seniors used to climb to the first floor of the building with the help of drain pipes with their journals and handed them over to the first-year students for completion.

“We spent up to seven hours in the night to complete their journals. If we didn’t abide by their orders, they beat us,” said a student.

Another student said that the seniors had prepared a dress code for juniors. “We cannot tuck the shirt in, can’t wear shoes or tie, and cannot even laugh in front of the seniors,” he said.

Asked why they never complained against their seniors, the first-year students said that the seniors threatened them saying that it was parampara (tradition) of the college to rag juniors.

Naik said that the students, in the last few months never complained about ragging because their seniors used to threaten them with dire consequences if the matter was reported to the college authorities.

The college allowed the second-year students to take their practical examinations on Tuesday as these students belonged to poor families and the allegations were not yet proved. The BSc course at the college is of four years duration.

Ulmek said the college already has an anti-ragging committee, an anti-ragging squad and there were several professor monitors, who made surprise visits to hostels. Surprisingly, none of the students had complained to them about the ragging.