Freshers shun men's hostels to escape ragging

1 November 2003:NEW DELHI:

HYDERABAD: Attempts by authorities to clamp down on ragging in the two premier medical colleges of the city — Osmania Medical College (OMC) and Gandhi Medical College (GMC) — appears to have had little impact on freshers. They still keep away from the men's hostels fearing ragging.

It's been a month since classes started for first years, but the wing of the men's hostels meant for them is virtually empty.

College authorities dismissed this saying final year students have not yet vacated their rooms and that there is no space for juniors. But students have a different view.

"Freshers do not live in the hostel for fear of getting ragged," said Srinivasa Raju, a final year student of OMC. B Ramesh, a first year student in GMC said, "Only 12 of us live in hostel as the others are afraid."

The hostels, which are on the college campuses, do not have any special security system in place to prevent ragging. There's just a warden and his staff comprising sweepers, a water boy and an electrician. "They are powerless in front of the students," said a final year student of OMC.

However, both the students and the college administration of the OMC maintain that ragging is non-existent. "Students are afraid because the reputation of medical colleges is very poor in this regard," Raju said.

"The maximum we do is ask the fresher his bio-data or make him sing and dance. Nothing beyond that," said G Shankar Naidu, a second year student of OMC. Similar are the accounts of the administration and senior students at the GMC, According to vice-principal Pradeep Deshpande, two committees have been formed to clamp down on ragging — a core committee comprising administration and faculty and an anti-ragging committee comprising senior students, supervised by a faculty member.

"I do not mind banning ragging, but the situation is such that not even pleasantries are exchanged between seniors and juniors for the fear of being caught by the anti-ragging squad," Raj Kumar, a second year student of GMC said.

In both colleges, members of the faculty take turns staying at the hostel every night to prevent ragging. OMC formed a 10-member anti-ragging committee made up of faculty members. Source

ragging in Coimbatore Medical College - Four students held

25 October 2009:COIMBATORE: Despite SC bans and pleas, ragging refuses to die out.

In the latest horror, four students of the government-run Coimbatore Medical College Hospital were arrested and suspended from the college for allegedly assaulting juniors. According to police, the four seniors allegedly took 11 second-year students to the terrace of the hostel and asked them to 'swim' on the floor on the night of October 21.

When they hesitated and resisted, they were assaulted, the police said. Two days earlier, three other boys were also allegedly ragged and beaten up by the same group.

''As ragging of freshers would have come to our notice immediately, these seniors appear to have targeted second-year students,'' medical college dean Dr V Kumaran said. Source

Ragging in Haldia, West Bengal - three suspended

10 October 2009:

Squad set up to check ragging at RIMS

Ranchi, Oct. 20: An anti-ragging squad has been constituted at the premier Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) to curb incidents of ragging amid unconfirmed reports of mental and physical torture. RIMS acting director A.K. Mahto said that the squad comprised three teachers each of clinical and non-clinical departments, besides representatives of the Junior Doctors' Association. "Though we have not received any complaint of ragging, we have set up an anti-ragging squad. Its members will sit together on October 29 to chalk out a strategy to put a complete halt on ragging, if any, on the campus," Mahto said. Vijay Pratap Singh Tomar, the association's secretary and also a member of the squad, supported Mahto, saying there was no question of ragging as students were aware of its consequences. "Everyone knows that s/he will have to lose at least one semester if found ragging a fresher. No one enjoys harassing juniors at the cost of his or her career," he said. Tomar, however, did not deny the practise of freshers introducing themselves on the campus. "Sometimes, freshers are asked to introduce themselves to seniors. This practice is sometime seen as ragging and spoken about in an exaggerated way outside the campus by some freshers," he said. Sources, however, said the squad was constituted after cases of harassment of newcomers were reported from the campus. "It was reported that new girls were being asked by seniors to wash their dirty laundry at odd hours while boys were being asked to impersonate birds. Apart from this, some seniors asked freshers to bend at 90 degrees when in front of them," a RIMS employee alleged on condition of anonymity. No fresher was available for comment as the Puja vacations are on. But sources close to them supported the claims of the RIMS employee. "There is an old tradition of ragging on the campus. It is difficult to find out about every case as freshers prefer to remain tight-lipped as they fear trouble in the hostel otherwise. Only extreme cases of ragging come out or only those students open their mouths whose parents are influential," said a friend of a fresher.Source   Comments By Ragging India;   It is a good step but the management should know that  No complain does not meen that ragging is not taking place. Very serious ragging takes place in RIMS.  SC/ST students freshers is brutely ragged by their SC/ST seniors continuously for three to four months. General and OBC category students are being ragged by their counterparts similarly for three to four months. In this country we just make a commitee and sleep. Neither the committe do anything neither the Management/Government. Committee is made just to hide the truth and for not taking any action.

Tough ragging guidelines submitted to Polish

JAIPUR: In a bid to clear confusion between ragging and acts of indiscipline, the anti-ragging committee has handed over a copy of UGC guidelines describing the acts comes under ragging' to the police department recently. It is often seen that in cases of violence between two student groups, the college administration denies ragging instead divert the police attention on considering a case under normal indiscipline.

"I have submitted a copy to the ASP, OP Sharma, on Wednesday. This copy will help the police department to differentiate the cases of ragging and acts of indiscipline in the college," said B M Sharma, member of anti-ragging committee, Rajasthan University.

The guideline clearly says that any conduct by a student or students even by words that has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness should be considered a ragging. Even the guidelines say act that caused shame or embarrassment or affects the mental health and self-confidence of a fresher or any other student should be considered under the purview of ragging.

Police officials said that earlier it was a very cumbersome task to identify a ragging case. "Now it will help us in initiating the action against according to the merits of the case," said a police officer. Notably, under the law the conviction in a ragging harsh then a simple conviction in a simple clash between two students groups. The committee has also held a meeting with the police to seek their appropriate support on the issue.

Despite strict guidelines of the supreme court and UGC the ragging cases have been surfacing frequently causing law and order problems. The committee is hoping that such initiative would help in putting a check on the incidents of ragging in the institutes. Source

Ragged Howrah, West Bengal fresher kills self

HOWRAH: Traumatized and shamed by barbaric torture at the hands of seniors, a first-year student of a Howrah institute committed suicide on Friday  rather than face his tormentors who are still roaming free.

Exactly a month ago, 19-year-old Nayan Adak had taken poison to kill himself after the brutal ragging and was due to rejoin the institute on Friday after a long and difficult recovery. Nayan, a B Pharma fresher at Calcutta Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology & Allied Health Sciences in Uluberia, was beaten up, forced to take drugs, singed with cigarettes and injected with air during a 90-minute ordeal on September 4.

Finally, his wrists were slashed and he was dumped — battered, delirious and bloodied — at Uluberia railway station. Five days later, when the campus reopened after holidays, Nayan gulped pesticide rather than return to college.

Though it's been a month since the ragging came to light, neither the college authorities nor police have taken any action against the culprits. While college officials accuse police of dragging their feet on the family's FIR, police allege that the college is trying to suppress the incident. Ironically, the local inspector-in-charge, Abdul Rezzak, is on the institute's anti-ragging committee. Uluberia SDPO Mrinal Majumdar said they were waiting for Nayan to identify the accused.

The college, affiliated to the West Bengal University of Technology, had been directed by acting vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Sengupta to file an FIR but did not do so. College principal R Debnath simply admitted to "minor incidents of ragging" on campus.

Nayan, the only son of a farmer in East Midnapore's Arinan village, was a bright student. He joined the institute with high hopes but was targeted by a bunch of seniors from the first day for his background and "rustic ways". Source

Ragging in BGSU, J&K - 9 students suspends

Rajouri Oct 07 (NAK) Probably first time in the history of educational institution management of Jammu and Kashmir, 9 students were today suspended by the Ghulam Shah Badshah University on the charges of ragging their juniors.

Taking lead in implementing anti ragging UGC's strictures, Ghulam Shah Badshah University authority's suspended 9 students after two groups of Freshers filed separate complaint that they were subjected to ragging by their seniors.

Reliable sources told News Agency of Kashmir that first student of B-tech first year held a demonstration in the campus premises to protest against ragging at the hands of their seniors.

The protesting students named 9 students who grilled some of them and forced them to strip off their clothes, they complained. The victims alleged that the seniors thrashed those who refused to obey their orders.

The University authorities took the cognizance of the incident and directed the anti ragging Squad to inquire into the matter.

After inquiring the matter, the anti-ragging squad found the named students guilty and recommended their action against them.

Endorsing the recommendations, the university authorities immediately rusticated all the nine students. Source