[Telegraph] Wanted: report on ragging, suicide

Link to report

MITA MUKHERJEE

Alarmed by the rising number of suicides among young boys and girls, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has asked Calcutta and Jadavpur universities to submit detailed reports of self-killing of their students in the past year.

The UGC — in a first such letter — has also asked the two institutions to state what steps they had taken to curb ragging on campus.

Officials said the UGC’s decision to collect data on student suicides and ragging from institutions across the country comes in the wake of a discussion in the Lok Sabha on how youths were being “drawn towards self-destruction” following failure to cope with academic and parental pressure.

A section of the Lok Sabha members had also urged the Centre to make a move to curb ragging. Despite a ban imposed by the Supreme Court in 2001, ragging continues unabated on several campuses across the country.

“On the basis of an instruction from our Delhi office, we have requested the authorities of Calcutta and Jadavpur universities to prepare a report on student suicides in the past year,” said Ratnabali Banerjee, an official of the UGC’s eastern region office in Calcutta.

Similar letters are also being sent to other universities in the state, she added.

Senior officials in the UGC said the institutions should “maintain accuracy” while compiling the facts, as any action by the government to curb ragging or suicide would be based on the reports.

Rajat Banerjee, registrar of Jadavpur University, said: “There was no incident of suicide at our institution in the past year. We have already sent our report to the UGC, stating the measures we have taken to stop ragging on our campus.”

As for Calcutta University, the UGC has also sent a copy of the letter seeking details on the students’ suicides and ragging to the 160-odd affiliated colleges.

University registrar Samir Bandyopadhyay said the process of gathering the data from the university and the colleges has already started.

Tapati Mukherjee, principal of Bijoykrishna Girls’ College and a member of Calcutta University’s council for undergraduate studies, however, said she had not received any instruction from the university about the UGC’s letter.