According to the latest Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry report ragging cases are on decline this year.
It’s been two years since the shocking death of Aman Kachroo due to ragging. Now, there is a relief that the curse might have been tamed. But fears abound on whether enough is being done by the government to permanently stamp out ragging.
According to the latest Human Resources Development (HRD) ministry report ragging cases are on decline this year. A total of 161 complaints have been made as against 195 complaints received during the same period (January to August) last year, a 17.4 per cent decline.
Further, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Pondicherry registered just one case each of ragging. The anti-ragging helpline activity showed a dormant activity in the entire north-eastern region.
At present, there is no separate law against ragging in the country. However, the anti-ragging regulations have been notified by various regulatory authorities like University Grants Commission (UGC), All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE), Medical Council of India (MCI) and Dental Council of India (DCI), which have since come into force.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) also launched a toll free Anti-Ragging helpline (1800-180-5522), which is operated by a government managed call centre. The call centre received 919 calls this year, of which the HRD ministry claimed 343 cases had been resolved.
Acknowledging the decline, education administrators attributed the breakthrough to the strict enforcement of the stipulated guidelines. Professor Abdul Nafey, dean of students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) said, "The guidelines issued by UGC have been strictly followed in order to keep a check on ragging." Suranjan Das, vice-chancellor, Calcutta University, said, “We had just one ragging case so far but there is a long way to go."
The worry lines, however, abound. All the calls received by the anti-ragging helpline have not been resolved and the month of July, the beginning of the admission season, continued to result in large scale ragging complaints.
There is also the fear of the government’s inability to tap all the ragging cases. Ajay Govind of Society against Violence in Education (SAVE), an anti-ragging NGO, said, “There are many cases of ragging which go unreported. The government data showing a decline may not be all that genuine."
While the HRD ministry showed overall decline in ragging cases, the report found out that the majority of cases were concentrated in a few states without any major change in pattern. A detailed state wise analysis revealed that between the months of January to August 11, 2011, Uttar Pradesh registered the maximum number of complaints, 27, followed by West Bengal and Maharashtra at 23 and 15 respectively.
Nafey added that students needed to be sensitised better to the aftermath of ragging. Das argued that there was still a lot of work required at the grass root level to educate students against ragging.
“Being merely dependent on government rules and regulations would not completely eradicate the menace."
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