New Guidelines Against Ragging

Ragging, a colonial legacy, has long ceased to be a harmless college custom. In more recent times, the physical and mental abuse in the name of ragging has snuffed out many lives. Yet college authorities across the nation have invariably turned a blind eye to the scourge. From indifference to apathy, their response has remained typically insensitive and casual. Rather than fixing responsibility, by and large, educational institutions try to hush up the matter, as a result of which ragging hoodlums remain unpunished.

Apex Court Verdict
The Supreme Court on May 8, 2009 directed all State Governments to constitute committees to look into the incidents of ragging and curb the menace. Passing a slew of directions to eradicate the menace from educational institutions across the country, a Bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat said every college should have a psychiatrist to provide counsel to the students.

In cases of alcoholism, educational institutions will have to take measures for de-addiction.

All the State Governments will give an undertaking to the court about the steps taken by them in accordance with the apex court directions to prevent incidents of ragging in educational institutions.

The Supreme Court's order is going to drive the State Governments, schools and colleges to take some firm actions and all of us have a stake in the success of these measures.

Raghvan Committee Probe
The Raghvan Committee put it pointedly when it said that anything which violates the dignity of a student is objectionable. Something like a fine between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh would put the fear of God into the thinking of whoever is incharge of an institution. This does not preclude the head of the institution being censored otherwise or removed from that position.

In a college, the Principal can be held responsible, but today in our universities the direct recruitment of students is quite high. Generally speaking, the dean of the faculty is the person incharge, but there are variations on this pattern. Sometimes there are deans of students also.

A high-level committee had probed the incident of ragging leading to the death of Amann Satya Kachroo, a first year MBBS student of Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC), Tanda in Kangra District in March 2009.

The Bench had termed as "shocking" the findings of the panel that alcoholism was the main reason leading to serious form of ragging and violence in the campus, which was evident in Amann's case.

Raghvan Committee was appointed in December 2006 by the Union HRD ministry after the Supreme Court issued a directive to suggest and monitor measures to eliminate ragging in college campuses.

UGC Guidelines
It is not surprising that the University Grants Commission (UGC) has prepared draft regulations to check ragging following the death of medical student Aman Kachroo. The new guidelines will make it mandatory for all students and their parents to furnish written undertakings that they are well-versed with the laws and punishments for ragging. On top of this each student application will include a behaviour pattern report to enable institutions to keep students under watch. The UGC has also thought of making it binding on all institutions of higher education to prevent ragging or face harsh action, including de-recognition as has been suggested by the Supreme Court.

However, this is hardly the first time that the UGC has issued such guidelines. In fact, it has almost become routine for the UGC to issue guidelines each year after a particularly gruesome incident of ragging. Thus, in 2007 when the Supreme Court had asked educational institutions to register FIRs against students indulging in ragging, the UGC was all set to issue strict instructions to universities to implement the court’s order. Similarly, the UGC had constituted a committee last year to frame regulations to check ragging in institutions, and had also directed universities to follow the Supreme Court guidelines. Nonetheless, despite the UGC passing these strictures, incidents of ragging have not abated.

Improper Cooperation from Institutions
Institutions which are notorious for ragging are already known. They are mostly engineering or medical colleges. One does not know what the principal, the faculty and other administrative officials are doing to ensure that these institutions do every thing possible to get out of their bad names. Students, at the time of admission, should be made to sign an undertaking that they will not take part in ragging and that if found guilty they should be rusticated and not be allowed to seek admission in any other institution for a period of two-three years. Hostel superintendents have a very special role to play in checking ragging. One remembers how, in the olden days, the hostel superintendent was a much-feared official, and how a complaint from the headmaster of a school or principal of a college to the guardians of students would be viewed as a severe stigma to be avoided by the student concerned.

So far educational institutions have not cooperated in implementing the guidelines against ragging, and have been lax in taking punitive action against those students who have been guilty of this heinous practice. Though it is welcome that the UGC has thought of making its guidelines binding on educational institutions, these have been flouted in the past and may continue to be so in the future. There may, therefore, be a need for Parliament to wake up to this problem and frame a law specifically against ragging. It is quite possible that nothing less than a law against ragging that fixes the culpability of educational institutions and ensures strict monitoring on part of the universities will bring about an end to this practice. This must be done to protect young lives from being tormented. Educational institutes are meant to be places of learning. Therefore, there is absolutely no place for ragging in our schools and colleges.

While States such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra and West Bengal have anti-ragging laws, a central law to curb the barbaric practice is urgently required. The Prevention of Ragging in Colleges and Institutions Bill was moved by a Congress parliamentarian in May 2005. But it is still pending.

In the wake of the latest incidents, the apex court has issued contempt notices to the two colleges for failing to implement the guidelines against ragging, formulated in May 2007.

Magnitude of Problem
The biggest problem in dealing with any issue in our country is that we do not take preventive action before it becomes a crisis. Case in point: The menace of ragging. The Supreme Court has defined ragging as any disorderly conduct through words spoken, written or by any act which has the effect of teasing an individual. This includes handling with rudeness any student, or indulging in rowdy or indiscipline activity, which causes or is likely to cause annoyance or psychologically harm or raises fear thereof in a fresher or a junior student, or asking the student to do any act or perform something, which such a student will not do in the ordinary course.

The magnitude of the problem of ragging has become enormous. Neither the Government nor our educationists have paid any attention to eliminating this menace, though the Supreme Court had banned ragging in 2001. According to an NGO dealing with the problem, on an average nine teenagers are killed every year in ragging related incidents. Hundreds others get seriously injured or hospitalised. A study has revealed that sexual and physical abuse have become rampant in our colleges, and the students guilty of the same disguise it as ragging.

What should be Done?
The issue is not of one or two individuals but how a system is established. For instance, the Raghvan Committee had laid down that each student be required to fill a personal bond of responsibility. It is not possible to go into the details of the recommendations made by the committee.

Once this document is more widely circulated and discussed and appropriate responsibilities fixed, there would be no room for evasion. The fact is that what was imported into India a century or so ago has become a nuisance, more particularly in respect of certain categories of students and certain places where evasion is the order of the day and no one is held responsible for it.

In the absence of cooperation from educational institutions, the criminal laws which deal with ragging are perhaps not sufficient. There may be need for Parliament to frame a law specifically against ragging which would also fix the culpability of educational institutions that have allowed ragging to take place, in addition to ensuring the strict enforcement of anti-ragging laws and monitoring of the same. Unless this is done our colleges and universities will continue to harbour anti-social elements and young lives will continue to be unnecessarily hurt or snuffed out.