Ragging is back

BANGALORE: The menace of ragging in colleges has not been completely uprooted in the city as well as the country. The recent incident of 18-year-old Ajmal P M, an aeronautical engineering student of Sha-Shib College, who was allegedly set ablaze, is evident that ragging still continues unabatedly in the city. Usually, ragging involves enactment of a situation by the new entrants to the college, under duress, where sometimes students are teased, stripped and even humiliated. This act has a traumatic effect on the minds of the youngsters. To curb the menace in higher educational institutions, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has issued guidelines for colleges across the country. When City Express interacted with students and principals of different colleges, they spoke about the precautionary measures undertaken by them in their respective institutions against ragging.  It primarily is an act of attention seeking. Seniors in order to gain focus from the freshers, pressurise them to act in certain ways said many students. As a part of the anti-ragging campaign, there are many students’ forum which spread messages on social networking sites against ragging. “We train freshers with basic information about ragging and on how to defend themselves when they face such situations. Anti-ragging campaigns help students to build a healthy relationship with their seniors,” said Uma P, a student and also a co-ordinator for an online anti-ragging campaign.She added, “We are planning to bring out street plays and documentaries in the future to spread awareness among students about the ill-effects of ragging and the lasting impact it can have on the minds of students.”Many colleges in the city as per the guidelines of the UGC have set up anti-ragging cells, providing a platform for students to raise their voice against ragging. Chandramouli A S, principal of Surana Degree College, said, “We have a committee in our college which is headed by the physical education trainer and comprise NCC officers including student co-ordinators, who try to solve the issue at the initial stages, as part of our preventive mechanism.”The act of ragging is mild on college premises, but is acute in the hostels, especially those located in the remote areas, said K R Venugopal, principal of University Visveswaraya College of Engineering. He said, “Students have to be monitored at every stage of their development. Ragging is considered to be a punishable offence. To prevent ragging in hostels, tight security measures have to be taken by the authorities.”