Ragging helpline is launched

In his student life Kapil Sibal was ragged by his seniors in college. Later on, he too ragged his juniors. But as a minister for Human Resource Development (MHRD) he will not allow any of this. 

Acting as a guardian for the new students who will be joining colleges this academic session, Sibal has put in place "strong systems" to prevent ragging. The minister launched a helpline and a web portal for students where they can register complaints of harassment and ragging.

"Ragging is a national menace which demoralises students besides having enormous psychological impact on the child. We can’t sit back and see students harassing new comers. Many of the acts committed in the name of ragging is liable to prosecution under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). But people get away with it because they are part of the students community. From now on, nobody will be able get away with ragging as we have put in place strict mechanisms to prevent it," said Sibal.

Remembering his days in Delhi's St Stephen's College, Sibal said: "I was ragged but that was in a very civilised way. I was made to run a few kilometers on the ridge till I started gasping for breath. Later on, I too ragged my juniors but nothing untoward happened. Today students often cross the line between friendly ragging and offensive ragging."

Aggrieved students can call the 24x7 helpline to register their complaints. The identity of the complainant will be kept secret if they wish so. The portal will have a database of all the ragging incidents, complaints and action taken on them. It will also have a database of all the students studying in various courses.

The MHRD has asked all institutions to become zero tolerance campuses in respect of ragging. Following the recommendations of the Supreme Court appointed R.K. Raghavan Committee on ragging,  it has asked all regulatory bodies like the UGC, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India (MCI), Dental Council of India (DCI) and Nursing Council of India (NCI) to prepare specific and strict regulations to enforce anti-ragging measures in institutions under them.

The government plans to link the release of grants to educational institutions with the compliance of anti-ragging rules.

The UGC has already asked all educational institutions to clearly mention in its admission prospectus that ragging is prohibited in the institutions and those found guilty will face strict action including expulsion and imprisonment. The institutions also need to declare the number of cases of ragging in the previous academic session and punishments awarded to those found guilty in their prospectus.

The committee has also asked statutory regulatory bodies to direct educational institutions to incorporate in admission notices appropriate messages regarding `zero tolerance' towards `ragging'.