30 April,2009 08:54 AM IST | | Subroto Roy
The University Grants Commission recommends draconian measures to check menace in institutions of higher learning across India. Subroto Roy reports
The University Grants Commission (UGC), the premier government body responsible for providing funds to, and maintaining standards in centres of higher learning, is bent on rooting out ragging from educational institutions under its jurisdiction.
The body has drafted a resolution, which recommends that educational institutions under its umbrella treat the menace of ragging with a seriousness reserved for heinous crimes like rape, atrocities on women, and casteist discrimination against members of scheduled castes and tribes.
The UGC resolution comprises some regulations framed in the light of recommendations made by a Supreme Court committee (SLP No 24295) set up on ragging in 2006. Back then, the committee had observed "reluctantly that during its visit to the different States and regions, it did not come across any serious effort to implement the guidelines of the Supreme Court in the manner in which the Apex Court had intended." The UGC had also stated that it had not formed regulations up to 2007. The committee further reported, "other than the Chhattisgarh Act, no other state legislation existed to prevent ragging".
UGC Chairman Sukhdeo Thorat signed the draft of the resolution following a meeting on April 13 that was attended by representatives of seven state educational councils, including Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, UP and Himachal Pradesh.
The recommendations contained in the resolution are expected to be incorporated in UGC regulations in the week ahead. The UGC recommendations will become binding on institutions under its jurisdiction that impart education related to medicine, teacher education, agricultural research, distance learning, pharmacy, and law by the end of May.
The regulations will require that students fill up a form that will have declaring that they have understood various laws that currently govern ragging. The form will be accompanied by a copy of 'UGC regulations on curbing the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions, 2009'.
Arun Nigavekar, former chairman of the UGC, who is also a former vice chancellor of the Pune University, however, said the UGC recommendations were too harsh. "One has to analyse this issue very carefully before enforcing such a strict set of regulations. The impact of such harsh measures on the minds of students should be considered before the regulations come into force," Nigavekar said.
