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Ragging alive and kicking, but does anybody care?

Despite high-decibel protests against ragging, it is rampant in many campuses. At most institutions, authorities turn a deaf year to complaints.

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Despite high-decibel protests against ragging, it is rampant in many campuses. At most institutions, authorities turn a deaf year to complaints.

Ashish Pandey was overjoyed to join Jadavpur Engineering College, but his dream was short-lived. Seniors beat him up severely and no action was taken by the authorities. He ultimately dropped out. “The warden did not listen to my pleas. I was under a lot of pressure and decided to leave.” But dean Rajesh Ray denied ragging. “If there had been ragging, the student would have complained and action would have been taken.”

The problem is worse at institutes like AIIMS. Sagar Dhawan, a first year AIIMS student, received a welcome he will never forget — his seniors broke his arm. The authorities got to know of it but did nothing.

One of his seniors said, “The authorities should stand up for us but they are worried about their reputation.” Dean Dr Rani Kumar, however, said, “No such incident has come to my knowledge.”

In July 2007, a student of Indian Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) Kolkata was beaten up and thrown near the railway track. Rakesh Sharma, a IInd year student of IIHM Bhubaneswar says, “A batchmate of mine was beaten so badly, he left the college.” Sanjay Kakkar, an IIHM Bhubaneswar dropout “joined the college with a lot of hope. The next day, I was ragged so badly, I left.”

The college spokesperson admitted “dropouts for reasons best known to the students. No cases of ragging have come up.”

Sanjay Bhatia of JB Roy Government Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital in Kolkata says, “I was made to do unthinkable things in ragging.” But the principal says, “Nobody ever complained of ragging.”

Does it surprise anybody that the offenders have no fear?

Ashish Pandey of Jadavpur Engineering College says, “A girl of the architecture department was ragged but the college hushed it up. The offenders were rusticated for two years, the police were never told.”

Ankita Malhotra of Ansals Institute of Technology, Gurgaon, says, “Boys ragged me from Day I, sometimes grabbing my hand. The dean rusticated some students but they bother me outside college now. I am on the verge of leaving college.”

Harassed students have formed a group called SAVE. Its leader, Kushal Banerjee, says, “We’re an online group. We meet and console victims.”

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