Till the term came to such demonic proportions, 'ragging' was a medium of interaction, making first year students get acquainted about the college and their seniors.
Ragging is one of the most debated issues in recent times. Till the term came to such demonic proportions, 'ragging' was a medium of interaction, making first year students get acquainted about the college and their seniors.
According to Cambridge dictionary 'rag' meant a college event in Britain where a series of amusing events or activities were organised by students once a year to collect money for charity. However, unpleasant instances, one too many now, has tainted the whole concept and the very term is a taboo word in educational institutions at present.
Wary of the strict measures, now first year students are almost treated with kid gloves by older students. "I think this year the first year students are overprotected by the college," lamented a 3rd year student from Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (Cept) University, who said that the term has been more maligned than its worth.
"There is a difference between ragging and interaction. They (freshers) were taken out of town for three days on an educational tour. Even we have been warned of serious implications in case of any complaint against us.
Because of the warning we hardly get into any kind of interaction too. We were not ragged when we came as freshers - it was more an informal introduction and interaction which is why we share a better rapport with our seniors than these people will ever hope to have."
The situation at National Institute of Fashion Technology (Nift), Gandhinagar is no different. "We never encountered any kind of ragging at college, but informal friendly introduction… I doubt any such kind of interaction with happen with the new batch with the forewarning the authorities have issued to us," a 3rd year student at NIFT, Gandhinagar, said.
Even college authorities are in no mood to treat the menace less seriously. As part of its anti-ragging steps, the National Institute of Design (NID) authorities have made parents and students sign an anti-ragging form wherein it states that parents will agree to the serious action taken against their ward if he/she was found involved in ragging activities.
"We had an orientation for the first years in which the senior students were also present and a formal introduction was held," said Dr Vidya Deshmukh, registrar, NID. The institute has also employed security cover within campus to take care of untoward incidents if any, she said.
"We have not encountered any kind of ragging as such," said a first year NID student, adding that seniors are not allowed to enter the juniors' block as a part of anti-ragging measures.
The registrar and CAO of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad (Mica), KGK Pillai heads the anti ragging committee at the institute.
Pillai, along with two women professors and two students from the student's council has formed a committee to look into such issues.
Additional security, besides hostel security has been tightened. "The seniors are giving a welcome dinner to the freshers so they can be comfortable with their seniors. I'm very happy the way my efforts are materialising this year and I have personally ensured all measures are fool proof," Pillai said.
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