Ragging uncontrolled: National Report Card 164 reported cases, 19 deaths and 4 attempted suicides

Press Release

Ragging uncontrolled: National Report Card

164 reported cases, 19 deaths and 4 attempted suicides

Sub: Annual Status Report on Ragging in India

Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE, Estd in 2001) has once again come out with its statistics to highlight the ragging scenario in higher educational institutions in India. According to CURE’s latest analysis of ragging in India, the academic session 2009-10 registered highest number of ragging deaths in recent times. In the last 12 months, 19 cases of deaths and 4 cases of attempted suicides allegedly due to ragging were reported in English media. The year also witnessed a marked increase in the number of ragging incidents involving girls, including 4 cases of deaths and 2 cases of attempted suicides by girl students.

Year	Reported Ragging Incidents	Ragging Deaths	Attempted suicides
2007-08	89	11	5
2008-09	88	12	5
2009-10	164	19	4

In the academic session 2009-10 (July, 2009 – June, 2010) a total of 164 cases of ragging were reported in English media from across the country. This shows that ragging cases reported have doubled this academic year. Whereas this increase could be due to wider coverage of ragging incidents by the media, the substantial increase in number of deaths is concerning. The figure for number of deaths is less influenced by reporting asymmetry.

The highest incidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh (26), Andhra Pradesh (18), Tamil Nadu (14), Kerela (13) and West Bengal (11). In comparison to last year, Tamil Nadu is a new entrant to this list, whereas Punjab has exited the list. It is important to also study, which states registered the maximum number of ragging deaths. Maharashtra (4), West Bengal (4) and Punjab (3) registered maximum deaths due to ragging. It is alarming to observe that 4 states comprise to 57% of the total ragging deaths across the country.

There were 56 cases of ragging that led to major and minor injuries to students including several incidents leading to hospitalization and even permanent disability to young students. 22% of the total cases involved sexual abuse of freshers. 24 cases of ragging led to serious group clashes, protests and strikes and violence between students. Element of drug abuse, alcoholism, extortion, caste difference or regionalism was noted in 19 ragging cases.

Cases leading to injury	56
Cases comprising of sexual abuse	36
Cases leading to group violence	24
Cases involving drug abuse, casteism/regionalism	19

However the most shocking case this year was that of Nayan Adak, a 19 year-old first year student of Calcutta Institute of Pharmaceutical and Allied Health Sciences in Uluberia. During ragging Nayan was asked by his seniors to dance, strip and smoke. When he refused, the seniors slashed his hands with a blade and injected something into his body. Later Nayan tried to commit suicide at home by drinking pesticide but was timely hospitalized and rescued. But Nayan was so traumatized by the ragging incident that after a month when his father wanted him to rejoin classes, Nayan hanged himself from the ceiling fan and died on October, 8^th, 2009. This shows a gross societal failure, wherein after intervention of family and social security institutions, the victim could not be saved from death.

Like the previous years, this year also, high percentage of cases were reported from Engineering and Medical Colleges with a total of 68 cases (42% the total cases). Hostels and paying guest accommodation for students still remain to be the breeding ground for ragging as 91 cases or 56% of the total cases were reported from these places located in and around the campus area.

On the positive side, in 2009-10 academic session was the increase in police involvement and registration of FIR in ragging cases. Police intervention was noted in 66% of the total ragging incidents reported during the last 12 months as against 59% in academic session 2008-09.

“With so much fear, mystery and secrecy associated with ragging the only way to analyse the situation of ragging in the country is to track media reports and explore the trends and nature of this evil. Number of unreported incidents of ragging are much higher, nevertheless media reports are an important indicator on how widespread the phenomenon of ragging is still existent in our country.” says Harsh Agarwal, Co-founder, CURE.

“Our analysis states the obvious: Ragging is still widespread and its social impact is non-trivial. We are not happy with the steps the government or the educational institutions have taken. There is a lot of talk, but little work. A simple question to ask is how many educational institutions were fined or deaffiliated for breeding ragging, The unfortunate answer is 0.” says Varun Aggarwal, Co-founder, CURE.

About CURE

Established in 2001, Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (www.noragging.com) is India’s foremost anti-ragging non-profit organization. CURE is a research organization dedicated solely towards the elimination of ragging and promotion of more positive ways of interaction among seniors and freshers in Indian universities. For more details, please contact:

Email: cure@noragging.com,

[HT] Video campaign to curb ragging

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Swaha Sahoo,
New Delhi, July 14, 2008
Last Updated: 02:42 IST(14/7/2008)

For students, teachers and freshers of Delhi University, the message against ragging might be given through a video this session. Packed with images of youth and fun and backed with statistics on the dark side of ragging, the video has been made by NGO CURE (Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education).

CURE has been working closely with the Raghavan Committee, set up by the Supreme Court to monitor the measures being taken to prevent ragging in educational institutes across India.

“We plan to go to colleges and show the video to freshers, seniors and teachers so that they are sensitised towards what consist healthy interaction and how a simple joke might prove fatal for someone,” said Harsh Aggarwal, a member.

The video, which can also be accessed at www.noragging.com/video is based on detailed research by CURE. “Despite the Raghavan Committee guidelines, 89 cases of severe ragging were reported in 2007-08. There were 11 deaths and another five attempted suicides,” said Harsh.

Out of these cases, 21 per cent were of sexual abuse, 43 per cent led to physical injury while the rest were of verbal abuse. In 50 per cent cases police had intervened. “A comparison benchmark (statistics of last five years) reveals that nothing has changed. Rather the annual average in the last five years was 46 and there were 5.6 number of deaths,” said Harsh. “So we need more stringent measures to curb incidents of ragging,” he said.

[Yahoo] Ragging rampant in juvenile homes

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By HT
Friday January 4, 12:53 AM

RAGGING AT Delhi government-run juvenile homes is not something new, but for the first time 12 children were shifted out of a home in North Delhi's Alipur after the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) intervened. They were given shelter in a home run by an NGO.

The organisation, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) rescued the children, who were employed as bonded labourers in zari units located in Khanpur area of South Delhi. The sub-divisional magistrate Mehraulli Sanjay Bagaria had sent them to the Alipur juvenile home until the process for their repatriation was completed. That was the beginning of another trauma for these boys.

"The senior boys in the home used to beat them up often. They were not given proper clothing and were not allowed to sleep in cots. On Saturdays, seniors used to force them to stand for hours as part of the induction programme into the home," said Sandhya Bajaj, member of NCPCR.

Bajaj had visited the home after some of the children complained of inhuman behaviour in the homes. "I found there that such ragging was a routine affair. Every boy who goes there has to undergo this sort of ragging. What I found strange was that the authorities had turned a blind eye towards such incidents," Bajaj recalled. It was then that she asked sub-divisional magistrate Bagaria to shift them to another home. Her plea was accepted.

The case of the 12 boys is not a case in isolation. Raj Mangal Prasad of NGO Pratidhi said most of the Delhi government's juvenile homes are virtually run by senior boys aged between 16years and 18 years, due to a huge shortage of staff in the homes. "When they are the bosses, ragging is natural and part of the culture to maintain disciplines in the homes," he said.

[PunjabNewsline] No case of ragging reported from Punjab colleges

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CURE strongly refutes this claim by the government of Punjab. Infact, several media reports point out that this is incorrect. This blog contains the list of cases in Punjab reported in the online English media here.

CHANDIGARH: Not a single case of ragging was reported in any Government and Private Medical/ Nursing/Ayurvedic/Homeopathic and any Para-medical teaching institute in the Punjab State during a current academic year, due to strict vigilance measures initiated by the Punjab Government.

Stating this here Tuesday Tikshan Sud, Medical Education & Research Minister said that the Punjab Medical Education Department had conducted a detailed exercise to control ragging in the State by involving faculty, parents as well as students in this campaign. He said that the department today circulated the latest judgment of Supreme Court on ragging to all Medial Institutes in the State and they have been directed to include the clause of 'expulsion of students involved in ragging from the institute', in the prospectus of next academic year.

Sud said that Medical Superintendent in each institute has been designated as Nodal Officer to check ragging and he would be held accountable in any case of ragging reported in their respective institute.

The Medical Education Minister said that the Punjab Government was committed to check the practice of ragging in the State and the Minister solicited the co-operation all strata of society in this campaign of Punjab Government.

[Telegraph] UGC spares rag-rod

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CHARU SUDAN KASTURI

New Delhi, Nov. 27: The University Grants Commission has asked affiliates across India to follow all recommendations of a Supreme Court-appointed committee to curb ragging, but is unwilling to do so itself.

The Supreme Court committee headed by former CBI chief R.K. Raghavan had recommended that funds received by universities be linked to the implementation of anti-ragging measures.

Amid reports of rising instances of ragging, the UGC has decided against implementing the recommendation, seen by committee members and activists as a key weapon in the Centre’s armoury.

UGC officials said the commission does not intend to pressure universities into implementing the Raghavan committee’s recommendations by threatening to snap their purse strings.

“There is no plan to link the performance of universities in curbing ragging to the funding they receive,” a key policymaker at the UGC said.

UGC chairman Sukhdeo Thorat confirmed this. “The measures we are taking are enough,” he said.

Replying to a question in the Lok Sabha yesterday, junior education minister D. Purandeshwari said the government was aware of 70 reports of ragging this year.

According to anti-ragging activists, the figure last year was in the mid-forties — indicating a rise in cases this year.

But the UGC believes it would be next to impossible to implement the recommendation right now. It is learnt that the UGC has not yet informed the Raghavan committee of its decision.

One member of the committee, informed by The Telegraph, said the UGC’s decision was “very disappointing”.

“It is surprising because our aim was to give the Centre a strong weapon to whip those universities which do not take strong anti-ragging measures advocated by the committee,” another member of the committee said.

The Raghavan committee, however, is planning to approach the Supreme Court for ordering the UGC to implement the recommendation, the member said. “Once the court orders the UGC, they will have to follow the recommendation,” he added. The court is hearing the case early December.

[DNA] 70 cases of ragging in 2007-08

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NEW DELHI: Ragging continues to take a toll on students in colleges in the country, with as many as 70 cases of the illegal act, nine of them ending in suicides, being reported in 2007-08.

The court-appointed committee set up for monitoring implementation of the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee on measures for prevention of ragging has come across 70 cases reported in the print media during the current academic year, Minister of HRD D Purandeswari told Rajya Sabha in a written reply on Monday.

"Ragging is reported to be the cause of nine cases of suicide and three cases of serious injuries among these cases," she said.

The Minister said the Central Government has drawn the attention of states and regulatory institutions to the various recommendations of the Raghavan committee.

The HRD Ministry has also launched a media campaign through newspapers.

[HT] ‘Legal teeth for ragging panel’

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With about 53 cases of ragging reported from different parts of the country this year, the government is considering giving legal backing to recommendations of the Raghavan Committee report to check the menace.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has mooted a proposal to make changes in the UGC Act to provide for action against institutions not following the Raghavan Committee’s recommendations.

The committee had recommended to the Supreme Court earlier this year that an FIR should be registered against students accused of ragging and the institutions should set up a mechanism to prevent ragging in campuses and hostels.

In absence of any legal backing, the UGC found that it cannot force institutions to implement its recommendations.

As in the case of the recent ragging in St. Stephens College, the UGC can only seek a report and advise the institution to follow the recommendations. “We cannot even withhold the financial grant,” a UGC official commented, when asked about the commission’s powers to check ragging.

Now, the UGC is looking at providing legal backing to the Raghavan Committee recommendations in the UGC Act to make them effective. “We are considering a proposal in this regard,” said UGC member-secretary Tilak Raj Khem. Once finalised, it would be forwarded to the HRD ministry for final approval, he added.

Before a legislation on ragging, penal provisions against those running fake universities could come into force. The UGC has already submitted a proposal to the HRD ministry to enhance the fine for setting up a fake university and incorporate a provision for a jail-term. Under the present UGC Act, only a fine of Rs 1,000 can be imposed.

“A jail-term would be a deterrence to set up a university not approved by the UGC,” Khem said.

[Newstrack] Retribution gets harsh….A student ragged and thrown down from fourth floor of a hostel in Agra

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By Binita Tiwari
New Delhi

Oct 04: The reports of several abuses in the shadow of ragging are clogging our ear…

Abdul Wahab becomes another victim of ragging as he refused to pay Rs 2000 to his seniors for drinking. The seniors threw him from the fourth floor of college hostel in Agra. Wahab ended up injuring his legs and spinal cords and was rushed to hospital by his friends.

The incident occurred on the unfortunate night of Monday October 01, 2007 when Abdul was studying in his room at the third floor of his hostel and suddenly some seniors entered in his room and started harassing him and asked Rs 2000, if Abdul wanted to remain in the college.

Abdul refused to pay as a result he was thrashed and then dragged to fourth floor from where he was pushed down.

The victim is a second year BTech student of Anand Engineering College; he was taken to Kamyani hospital in Agra.

The victims’ father has alleged that his son has complaint several time of being harassed by the senior students for past few days.

The victim’s father at Sikandra police station has lodged an FIR on Wednesday after the police intervention.

The college authority had told Wahab’s parents not to report the matter to police, as it would ruin the victims’ career if an FIR had been filed.

The college administration has refused to take the incident as a matter of ragging but have constituted to probe the incident.

Dean of the College J S Yadav tried to hide the matter and cited that personal enmity could have led this incident. But he promised to punish the culprits.

Meanwhile the police investigation team is waiting for Abdul’s recovery to record his statement.

Doctors in the hospital are yet to know the extent of his injury.

Ragging a growing menace…

Victimisations had not stopped by the perpetrators of these crimes who feel that they have got all the legal documents and abused juniors in the name of raging.

Recently a student of engineering college in Lucknow was taken to psychiatric centre after ragging left him traumatised. The symptoms were found to be the case of psychosis.

In another incident a student committed suicide after getting harassed by seniors.

There are many such cases, which go unreported.

A committee headed by former CBI director R.K Raghvan reached out to a conclusion and recommended that the primary responsibility for curbing ragging lies with the academic institution.

The committee mentioned the adverse impacts of ragging on higher education, and perceived ragging as failure to inculcate human values from the schooling stage, and suggested punishment to deter its recurrence.

R K Raghavan had also drawn a social profile of the victims and found that most of the ragging victims were either from rural areas or socially backward communities.

A social group, Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE) had reported 52 cases and 6 suicidal cases since the May 2007 Supreme Court’s directive to take appropriate measures to curb ragging.

The present laws should be modified to tackle and discouraged ragging in any form but the ragging still seems to go unchecked ….

Presently, anti-ragging measures are limited to provisions in the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and Government orders.

Ragging that means to break the ice between freshers and seniors in academic institution has taken an ugly turn in due course of time…

It is becoming too late…for if this format of ragging continues; there will be phobia among students and parents to send their children for higher studies.

[DeccanHerald] Ragging menace on a rise

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New Delhi, PTI:

From May 21 to September 21, more than 50 cases of ragging, including physical, sexual and verbal abuse have been reported in the national English media, in contrast to only 15 incidents in the same period last year.

Despite the Supreme Court coming down heavily on the practice of ragging, the last four months have seen a spate of reported incidents of senior students mentally or physically abusing freshers, while six cases of alleged ragging-driven suicides came to the fore, a group working for elimination of the menace has said.

In the latest such incident, family members of a student of an Agra engineering college alleged that he was thrown off the third floor of a building by some of his seniors on Monday night, leading to multiple fractures and head injury.

From May 21 to September 21, more than 50 cases of ragging, including physical, sexual and verbal abuse have been reported in the national English media, in contrast to only 15 incidents in the same period last year, the Coalition to Uproot Ragging (CURE) said.

Preliminary analysis of the cases reveals six suicides and three more attempted suicides, Harsh Agarwal of CURE said.

The apex court had on May 16 cracked whip on students indulging in ragging, ordering educational institutions to file FIRs against them and saying that the punishment had to be "exemplary and justifiably" harsh to act as a deterrence against the recurrence of the abhorrent practice.

The court, while accepting most of the recommendations of the Raghavan committee that looked into ways to end the practice of ragging, also put the onus on educational institutions to file a criminal case against the perpetrators of ragging if the victim or the parents failed to do so.

"It is clear that the Supreme Court judgement has not been implemented in letter and spirit by the law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders. CURE also observes that despite the Supreme Court emphasising the need for educating the society and spreading awareness on this issue, not much seems to have been done at the national level," the organisation, which also runs a website noragging.com, said.

CURE, founded as an online forum in 2001, believes that along with strict implementation of deterring laws, promotion of more positive ways to increase interaction among seniors and freshers can help combat the menace, Agarwal said.

He said it is equally important to eradicate "misconceptions" about ragging. "Normal educated people also put up arguments that ragging helps in personality development and the practice is harmless if it remains within limits."

"After remaining within strict discipline in school, students in colleges get a sudden freedom, which some of them tend to misuse. When students operate in a group, the mob mentality works and they can easily cross the lines of decency. Moreover, what is harmless ragging depends on the perspective of the person who is at the receiving end."

Agarwal, who says he was forced to abandon his medical studies after being severely ragged, claimed a section of the media "glorifies" ragging. "May be they don't have idea about what type of ragging takes place in medical and engineering colleges, specially in smaller towns."
To spread the word among the student community, CURE plans to observe October 11 as "Anti-Ragging Day" in memory of a Jalandhar student who took his life by jumping before a running train on that day in 2005 after allegedly being severely ragged by his seniors.

[Hindu] No relief from ragging

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Charging that there has been “no respite” from ragging in educational institutions across the country despite the Supreme Court directing them to put down the menace with an iron hand, a non-profit organisation, “Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education” (CURE), has said that as many as 52 cases of ragging have been reported in the media since this past May.

CURE has made a list of these cases from the online archives of the country’s leading newspapers.

“Our research has revealed that 52 cases of ragging have been reported in the online editions of the national English media since May 21, 2007. Contrast this with only 15 cases in the same period last year that indicates that reporting levels have remarkably improved. However, from the severity of the situation, it is also clear that the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee have been unable to act as any deterrent to prevent senior students from breaking the law,” said Harsh Agarwal, a CURE coordinator.

“A preliminary analysis of the cases reveals six suicides, three attempted suicides, 17 cases of reported physical abuse and several other cases involving sexual, verbal and drug abuse. It is clear that the Supreme Court interim judgement has not been implemented in letter and in spirit by the law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders,” he said.

CURE has observed that despite the Supreme Court emphasising the need for educating society and spreading awareness on this issue, not much seems to have been done at the national level.

“We maintain that ragging cannot be combated by deterrence alone. The psycho-social aspects of ragging need to be understood thoroughly and this menace needs to be tackled through a three-pronged approach involving education and awareness, providing alternate means of interaction along with strict implementation of deterring laws,” asserted Harsh Agarwal.

Indira Gandhi National Open University has launched an International Ph.D. programme that is available in various disciplines.

The prospectus will be available on www.ignou.ac.in. The applications will be received at the International Division at IGNOU. There will be two sessions for the Ph.D. programme every year -- in January and July.

Jagannath International Management School (JIMS), Vasant Kunj, has launched a unique weekly interactive programme for policemen who are being given communication lessons. The programme is aimed at understanding their problems and placing them in the company of local residents for a dialogue.

The six-week programme was launched recently with policemen drawn from the Vasant Kunj and Delhi Cantonment police stations.

The Institute has also adopted a nearby village, Masoodpur, as its “media laboratory” to assess the impact of communication on the development of an urban village.

The MBA students at the Faculty of Management Studies at Delhi University conducted an online services conclave titled “ClickIT- The World at your Click” last week.

The conclave was organised by “Synopsys” -- the systems, operations and consulting society at FMS -- and aimed at recognising the emergence of the online services industry. The speakers were leaders from the industry who addressed various functional aspects of such services like change in business models, content protection issues, and interaction between suppliers and end users.

Parul Sharma

[Telegraph] Ragging Alarm

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The number of ragging incidents in the past four mon ths across the country has more than tripled over the same period last year, an anti-ragging forum told PTI.

The Coalition to Up- root Ragging from Educ- ation said 52 cases were reported between May 21 and September 21 compared wi-th 15 in the same period in 2006, the for-um said.

[OneIndia] Despite SC observations, ragging continues unabated: NGO

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Sunday, September 23 2007 15:15 (IST) RSS

New Delhi, Sep 23 (UNI) Hopes of freshers getting some respite from "ragging blues" seem to be belied, with recent research indicating a rise in the number of ragging incidents across the country despite the Supreme Court stressing the need for educating society and rasiing awareness on this issue.

A recent survey by Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE), a non-profit organisation dedicated solely towards the elimination of ragging and promotion of more positive ways of interaction among seniors and freshers in Indian universities, has shown that there has been a phenomenal spate of ragging incidents reported from across the country in the past four months.

CURE research has revealed 52 ragging incidents reported in the online editions of national English media since May 21 till date, an over three fold increase from only 15 cases in the same period last year.

Preliminary analysis of the cases reveal six suicides, another three attempted suicides, 17 cases of reported physical abuse and several other cases involving sexual, verbal and drug abuse.

Among some of the notable cases in the past four months was the case of a first year engineering college student of Mallabum Institute of Technology being forced to consume narcotics like marijuana, brown sugar over four days in May 25. A separate case involved stripping of three first year students of Kurnool Medical college in July.

In another case, a fresher at the BIT Ranchi consumed poison after a bout of depression brought about by ragging in August.

In a case at GMC, Chandigarh in August, freshers reported that they were asked to abuse each other verbally, propose in a vulgar manner and act obscenely. Girls were asked to dance to pelvic thrusts and boys had to fly while verbally abusing themselves.

''It is clear that the Supreme Court's nterim judgement has not been implemented in letter and spirit by the law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders. CURE also observed that despite the Supreme Court emphasising need for educating the society and spreading awareness on this issue, not much seems to have been done at the national level,'' the report said.

The rise in the number of ragging incidents smacked in the face of the much publicised work of the Raghavan committee added.

''Hopes of freshers to get some respite from the archaic 'tradition' of ragging seem to be dying now,''it said.

The report also suggested that there was a need to combat the menace of ragging through a three pronged approach.

''CURE continues to maintain the firm stand that ragging cannot be combated by deterrence alone. The psycho-social aspects of ragging need to be understood thoroughly and ragging needs to tackled through a three-pronged approach involving education and awareness, providing alternate means of interaction along with strict implementation of deterring laws,''the report said.

UNI AR MS VC1515

[Tribune] Ragging menace persists on campuses: NGO

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New Delhi, September 23
In spite of the anti-ragging measures initiated by the Supreme Court, a recent research by an NGO has indicated a rise in ragging incidents across the country.

A recent survey by Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education (CURE), 52 ragging incidents were reported in the online editions of national English media since May 21 till date, an over three fold increase from only 15 cases in the same period last year.

Preliminary analysis of the cases reveal six suicides, another three attempted suicides, 17 cases of reported physical abuse and several other cases involving sexual, verbal and drug abuse.

Among some of the notable cases in the past four months was the case of a first year engineering college student of Mallabum Institute of Technology being forced to consume narcotics like marijuana, brown sugar over four days in may 25. A separate case involved stripping of three first year students of Kurnool medical college in july.

In another case, a fresher at the BIT Ranchi consumed poison after a bout of depression brought about by ragging in august. In a case at GMC Chandigarh in august, freshers reported that they were asked to abuse each other verbally, propose in a vulgar manner and act obscenely ‘’It is clear that the supreme court’s interim judgement has not been implemented in letter and spirit by the law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders. We also observed that despite the supreme court emphasising need for educating the society and spreading awareness on this issue, not much seems to have been done at the national level,’’ the report said.

According to the report the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee are not being properly implemented at many of the higher educational institutions. A three pronged approach has been proposed to weed out ragging menace from educational institutions across the country.

‘’The psycho-social aspects of ragging need to be understood thoroughly and ragging needs to tackled through education and awareness, providing alternate means of interaction along with strict implementation of deterring laws,’’ the report said.—UNI

[DNA] Ragging menace on rise in Bengal

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KOLKATA: West Bengal has once again been rocked by a spate of ragging incidents sending shock and fear amongst aspiring engineers and their parents.

In last couple of months eight incidences of ragging have been reported from different engineering colleges of the state and majority of them involved severe physical injuries to students. Last week it was height of it. A first year student of a private engineering college in Bankura district, Sudipto Mondal, was pushed from his hostel's second floor during ragging.

While Sudipto is still fighting for his life with multiple injuries in a nursing home in Bankura, the police is yet to arrest the six absconding senior raggers, against whom FIRs were registered.

Two days back before Sudipto's incident, a fourth year student of Bengal Engineering & Science University (Besu) was severely thrashed up by his own classmates, when he tried to resist them from ragging a junior, first year student. As first, the university authorities tried to hush up the entire incident but later it looked into the matter.

Similarly, last month, a first year student of the same institute of Bankura was forced to walk on balcony railings. Not being able to maintain balance he fell down and sustained severe injuries. No action was taken against the alleged students.

Former dean of Jadavpur University, S Roy said the regional and private engineering colleges should follow the IITs in checking ragging for good. According to him, the IITs have strictly decided that any student found guilty of ragging will be instantly expelled from the institute.

[Hindu] "Mixed feelings about life at college"

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Aarti Dhar

Raghavan Committee survey report

NEW DELHI: More than half the college students consider the first few days on the campus as a fresher a positive experience, with many of them calling it an opportunity to explore the unknown, making new friends, an experience far different from the school days in terms of excitement, change and similar other feelings.

One in every five respondents of a survey carried out by the Raghavan Committee during the course of preparing its recommendations to check the menace of ragging in educational institutions indicated a mixed feeling, neither too effusive in terms of the significance attached to college life, nor any negative emotion.

However, as many as 28 per cent of the 10,470 responses were outright negative with experiences ranging from loneliness, dullness and fear of the unknown to being overawed and living in anxiety about being ragged and teased by seniors.

While more than half the responses were positive in terms of dealing with the question of early life at college, questions about early days in hostel brought out only 16 per cent positive responses.

Expectations

A question on expectations from the new institution that they join brought forth an expected response from the freshers with as many as 63 per cent desiring a good academic environment, good infrastructure and good placement opportunities. The second highest number of respondents (15 per cent) worried about discipline and care in the new environment, and 11 per cent voted for freedom.

As many as 44 per cent of the respondents said they expect their seniors to guide and help them in academic matters, the second largest group of respondents (37 per cent) looked forward to friendship and affection from seniors, while 10 per cent wanted to escape ragging and another 3 per cent did not want anything from their seniors.

Asked how they make new friends, the strategy was helping the strangers (33 per cent) and through an affable smiling approach (47 per cent). There were only a few extreme instances of making friends through aggressive behaviour - 4 per cent said they did so by teasing and 1 per cent through scaring off the strangers. These extreme cases, according to the Raghavan Committee, are the potential "raggers".

In reactions to bullying, the largest number (46 per cent) of respondents said they felt angry, and 28 per cent said they felt insulted when bullied.

Strangely, as many as 17 per cent of students said they felt important even though subjected to ragging, while nearly half the respondents (48 per cent) said they enjoyed the experience of being bullied, and 22 per cent said they would stay away from the institution if bullied. Six per cent were even willing to leave studies if subjected to being bullied or teased.

The questionnaire asked whether the respondents would be happy to be friends with someone who hurt them. Even though 55 per cent gave an emphatic no to this suggestion, two in every five respondents (40 per cent) would not mind mending relationships even if they were hurt.

An overwhelming 72 per cent of the respondents said they want well-described procedures and guidelines to regulate the relationship between junior and seniors.

[Hindu] The wrong rite of passage

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A form of torture, which can cause severe emotional and physical damage, ragging enjoys the surprising status of a rite of passage. This dubious initiation ritual continues to be practised despite the ban slapped on it in 2001. While six States have enacted anti-ragging laws, there have been very few cases registered under them. The Supreme Court's order, which recognises that mere prohibition is not enough, places severe curbs on ragging by adopting a totally new approach. Preventing or taking action against the practice will now be the collective responsibility of the educational institution and no longer the lonely burden of the victim and his family. Institutions have been directed to file cases with the police whenever ragging incidents come to light; failure or delay on the part of the authorities to do so "would make them liable for culpable negligence." Concerned about maintaining their reputations, educational institutions often prefer to sweep ragging incidents under the carpet. The broad thrust of the court order is to make such institutions and those who manage them fully accountable for any such incidents.

The slew of directions issued by the Supreme Court is based substantially on the recommendations of the committee headed by R.K. Raghavan, former Director of the CBI. Appointed under the mandate of the court, the committee has devised a comprehensive methodology to tackle the ragging menace — one that involves educational institutions, the media, civil society, and government authorities at different levels. At the heart of this approach is the setting up of anti-ragging squads, anti-ragging committees, mentoring cells, and monitoring cells at the levels of institutions, the district, the State and the Centre. As the Raghavan committee has rightly observed, "without the active involvement of the multitude of bodies and authorities, a continuous vigil cannot be maintained." Some of the committee's far-reaching recommendations — to make ragging a specific offence under the Indian Penal Code and to amend the Indian Evidence Act to shift the burden of proof from victim to perpetrator — will require the approval of Parliament. Those who defend ragging as a fun activity that promotes a feeling of togetherness should take note of the alarming statistics about the initiation ritual. According to the Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education, of the 61 reported cases of ragging in colleges since 2005, 11 led to the death of the victim, ten provoked suicide attempts, 12 caused mental problems, and five ended with the victim leaving the institution. Such figures roundly disprove the idea that ragging is just a harmless icebreaker between seniors and freshers.

[CNN-IBN] Sex, crime in the name of ragging

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New Delhi: Ragging is banned in schools and colleges. But the horrible practice continues to exist across the college campuses. “We were asked to strip, hold the genitals of other male students enact a rape scene,” says student (name withheld) of the Delhi University.

Victims, who tell they either had to quit or suffer quietly for there was nobody to take an action, share the ghastly experiences of harassments and sexual assault in the name of ‘ragging’. “I joined Kumaon engineering college in 2002. Violence, humiliation and filthy language were very much a part of ‘ragging’ right from day one,” says Rohit Kaler, a victim.

He adds, “At midnight seniors entered the hostel and asked two of my friends to strip and rub Vaseline on each others body. They asked us to take our genital imprints and carry those as identity proof with the genital measurements written on it.”

Rohit left the college in 50 days. This was five-years back, but things aren't any better even today. Now in a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has prescribed severe penalties for even mild forms of ragging.

However, the practice is still rampant says CURE (Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education)—a website that wages war against ragging on the net.

The website states:

Over 60% of ragging cases reported are physical

* 20% cases are that of sexual harassment.

In (2005-07) 64 ragging cases were reported—from 61 colleges and 3 from schools . 62 per cent of the cases involved physical assault. In 13 per cent of the cases, sexual harassment was coupled with physical assault. 20 per cent of the cases were of sexual abuse while 5 per cent complained of verbal abuse.

After 11 deaths, 10 suicide attempts and 23 injuries all in just the last two years—the Supreme Court ruling seems to be just paperwork. The order says that the prospectus of colleges should clearly mention the punishments for ragging.

And an institution that fails to curb ragging can be de-recognized by the UGC/AICTE. But none of this has been implemented so far.

“It is important to realise that the ‘ragger’ is also a victim of ragging: not only was he ragged in his first year, he was later co-opted in a system of abuse and exploitation—one that legitimizes violence and oppression, drug abuse and alcoholism, all as 'student life',” says Shivam Vij, Stopragging.com.

When the institutions fail, cyberspace comes of great help. The independent groups have worked closely with the Raghavan committee, appointed by the HRD ministry to recommend ways to curb ragging in schools and colleges—all in the hope that what happened to Rohit will not happen to anyone again.

[Telegraph] AIIMS apartheid, cricket to class

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New Delhi, May 6: In the country’s top medical college, Sateesh Meena is not allowed to dine or play cricket with upper caste students. Neither, he says, is any other Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe student.

Daily life at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences resembles that in the country’s feudal outbacks and Apartheid-era South Africa, a government committee has discovered, confirming findings reported by The Telegraph.

“Some would just get up and walk away when I would sit at the table (in the mess),” said Jiten Dash (name changed, like Meena’s), according to transcripts of conversations the panel had with SC and ST students.

The committee interviewed 25 reserved-category students — half their total number at the institute — of whom almost all said they were told “not to play basketball or cricket by the upper caste students”. “Football and volleyball (that the upper castes don’t fancy) were the only sports we were allowed to play,” Meena said.

The committee claims “enough evidence” that the discrimination is “linked” to the “proactive role the AIIMS administration played” in fanning anti-quota sentiments on campus.

During last year’s anti-reservation agitation, AIIMS authorities had allowed student protesters from other institutions, too, to gather on the campus. No other central institution did so.

Most of those the committee interviewed alleged the teachers ignored Dalit students in class and deliberately failed them in exams, especially the practical tests.

“Even in internship, they are harassing (us)… now they are threatening us about the exams that are coming,” a medico complained against teachers. “Last year, out of seven students… six were failed — nearly by one or two marks.”

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had personally intervened to set up the three-member committee, headed by University Grants Commission chairman Sukhdeo Thorat, after this newspaper reported the campus discrimination.

The panel confirmed the finding that reserved category students were bullied into vacating their hostel rooms, leading to an SC/ST ghetto being formed on two floors of Hostels 4 and 5.

Each of the 25 interviewed said that despite a ragging ban, they were humiliated when they had joined. “They would call us to their rooms and order us… ‘tell us 10 reasons why you should get reservation… if you don’t we’ll beat you’,” one of them said.

“These incidents happen every year. Whenever a new batch joins they are treated like this,” a general category student confirmed.

The authorities ignored repeated complaints from the SC and ST students, encouraging their tormentors.

One Dalit boy who tried to join general category students in a game of basketball was thrashed, the committee noted. Another boy was told to “get out” by the cook when he walked into the mess where the upper castes dined.

The committee said the institute, despite requests, “has not taken any initiative to arrange remedial coaching in English, basic courses or any other spheres for SC/ST students as is required by central government educational institutions”.

Unlike many other central institutions, it lacks a grievance cell for SC and ST students. The committee has recommended that AIIMS set up an “equal opportunity office (EOO)”, answerable to the institute’s governing body and not the hospital administration.

The panel has also suggested that committees in AIIMS at every level — dealing with student, faculty or administration issues — have SC/ST members.

The committee last evening submitted its final report to health minister Anbumani Ramadoss.

[HT] War Against Ragging on Net

This was published on the 7th page of The Hindustan Times, Delhi Edition (Apr 6, 2007)
The online version can be accessed through HT-Epaper

THREE YOUNG Indians, one of them a ragging victim, are waging a unique war against ragging in institutions of education on the Net. The voluntary group - Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education or CURE - started by the trio carried out an online research on instances of ragging reported in leading Indian dailies and have analysed the kind of torture youngsters are made to undergo.

The research was carried out on the basis of data pertaining to the period between January 2005 and December 2006. Within this period 64 cases of ragging reported by leading newspapers and news channels were identified. Of these 61 were reported from colleges and three from schools. The kind of ragging the students were subjected could be ascertained only in 41 cases.

Of these 41 cases, 8 were subjected to sexual ragging, while another 5 were subjected to both physical and sexual ragging. Another 25 were subjected to physical ragging, while only 2 underwent verbal ragging. "But remember that in the case of 21, the cause could not be ascertained. We found that 11 deaths took place due to ragging, another 10 attempted suicide, while 23 were injured," said Harsh Aggarwal, one of the members of the group.

According to the findings of the group, 12 suffered an adverse effect on their mental health while 5 left the college following ragging. Of the 51 colleges identified where the cases of ragging were reported, 18 were from engineering institutions, 9 from medical colleges and 5 from polytechnics and 19 from architecture colleges.

Aggarwal himself was ragged brutally by his seniors at an Allahabad medical college in 2000. He was forced to leave medical school and wage a twoyear legal battle to bring the guilty to book. "Nothing could be done though because of the there are no designated bodies that handle cases of ragging. I started looking for other avenues of seeking redressal for ragging victims, when I chanced up on the Yahoo! Group started by IIT (Bombay) student Mohit Garg and NSIT scholar Varun Aggarwal," said Aggarwal.

CURE started as a Yahoo! group The No Ragging Group. "Varun and I were in engineering college and concerned about the ragging happening around us and the total lack of concern of people about it. It was merely seen as rites of growing up. We decided to research the topic as offering individual help was beyond our capability We used to get messages from places like Bihar from students seeking help as they were being ragged," said Garg.

anuradha.mukherjee@hindustantimes.com

[Hindu] Severe ragging is very much prevalent: report

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Parul Sharma

`Incidents swept under carpet to avoid embarrassment'

NEW DELHI: Many colleges across the country attempt to sweep incidents of ragging under the carpet to save themselves from embarrassment and prevent the institution's reputation from getting tarnished.

It is a myth that colleges are serious about preventing ragging and the fact is that their efforts fall "way short" of basic expectations in dealing with such incidents, says a report, "Ragging in India", compiled by voluntary organisation "Coalition to Uproot Ragging from Education" (CURE).

"In many violent cases, colleges have actually denied the incident, or worse, indicated that the fresher had initiated the altercation. The college authority prefers to deny ragging incident for face-saving at the cost of the freshers' trauma. Many colleges now try their best to keep the incident under wraps to save themselves from embarrassment," says the report.

The report is based on CURE's six years of experience in handling countrywide cases of ragging, though they began documenting their work last November.

The document also points out that ragging is not "harmless fun" as perceived by people and is more widespread in colleges where students stay in hostels, more so in professional institutions like engineering and medical colleges.

"In hostels a fresher is totally at the mercy of seniors with no support from family and friends. The problem magnifies at engineering and medical colleges, where students believe that they are the cream of society and it is their right to do socially unacceptable practices in the name of ragging," the report claims.

One of the chapters of the report titled "Social Perceptions: Debunking Prevalent Myths" asserts that it is a deception that severe ragging is not prevalent any more.

"Severe ragging is widely prevalent in most of the colleges which have hostels, be it smaller cities or the metropolitan ones... Nothing speaks louder than 25 cases of suicide due to ragging in the last seven years. After the Supreme Court judgment, colleges have just geared up to keep ragging incidents under the cover. The problem is not solved yet, it is just hidden," it says.

Reacting to the report, Delhi University's Sri Venkateswara College Principal A. Shankra Reddy said seniors of an institution must be involved in curbing ragging and other teasing incidents on the campus.

He admitted that though the University was taking "stringent" measures to prevent ragging, it continued in colleges that have hostel accommodation.

"The principals and the administration have been taking steps for the past two years in this direction. The security personnel have been increased, there is more police assistance and more and more student volunteers have been organised to contain ragging," said Dr. Reddy.

He maintained that in his College ragging was "absolutely zero" because each department separately held a meeting of seniors and juniors to encourage a healthy interaction between them.

"It is a myth that ragging helps in breaking the ice between seniors and freshers. Ragging is an archaic method of interaction with several harmful effects... It does not generate a feeling of unity and oneness as thought by many. It divides the students on the lines of caste, region and class. It sets up a mob mentality among the students," it says.