Root out ragging in educational institutes

Anil Methaniya

The police have registered an FIR against 15 students of a medical college in Gujarat's Patan district following the death of an 18-year-old student who was allegedly ragged by them, according to the Press Trust of India.

The accused, all second-year MBBS students, allegedly made some juniors, including the victim, stand in a hostel room for more than three hours and subjected them to "mental and physical torture," as per the FIR.

They have been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other offences. The accused have been suspended from their hostel and academic activities until further orders, said officials from a Medical College and Hospital at Dharpur in Patan.

The victim, a first-year MBBS student, fell unconscious and died allegedly after being made to stand for hours during ragging by his seniors.

Every educational institution needs an anti-ragging committee. While this one did have a committee, all these outfits need to be more proactive to prevent ragging. This means freshers must be aware that an anti-ragging outfit exists. Information must be pasted in classrooms, on the institution's website, with numbers given where a student can complain. There must be an atmosphere at the time of admission itself, where a student is made to feel that there is no fear or ‘repercussions' if one complains. An anti-ragging helpline number on a phone for a college is also a helpful measure.

Having cited this, ragging needs to stop completely in all schools/colleges. This is certainly no way to make people feel welcome. This is abuse and youngsters need to realise this. Students need to desist not just because of consequences but because they realise that bullying, mental and physical abuse has no place in our spaces.