In view of the latest Jadavpur University incident, Outlook takes a look at the laws around ragging in India and whether they are sufficient in preventing such incidents. But first, let us understand what constitutes ragging.
A 17-year-old undergraduate student fell to his death on the night of August 9 from the second-floor balcony of a hostel building at the prestigious Jadavpur University in Kolkata. His death sparked a massive public outrage after his family alleged he was ragged on campus, with criticism directed towards administrative failure.
A police probe later found that the first-year Bengali Honours student was not only ragged but also allegedly suffered sexual harassment – he was stripped and paraded naked at the hostel on campus. He allegedly encountered homophobic slurs and ran room-to-room to escape ragging, police said. A total of 12 people have been arrested in the incident so far, including current students and alumni of the varsity.
While the Jadavpur incident has shocked the country, it is not a standalone one. According to a survey conducted in 2017, nearly 40% of India's students have faced some or other form of ragging and bullying, and medical and engineering colleges reported most of them. Over the years, ragging has ruined many careers and claimed thousands of lives over the years.
In view of the latest incident, in this article, Outlook takes a look at the laws around ragging in India and whether they are sufficient in preventing such incidents. But first, let us understand what constitutes ragging.
What is ragging?
Ragging is a toxic ritual practised in many educational institutions across India that involves abuse, humiliation or harassment of junior students, especially new entrants by the senior students. It results in the physical, psychological and emotional torture of students.
Ragging became prevalent in India in the 90s during the boom of private medical and engineering colleges, and it was particularly bad in the southern states.
Ragging is governed under the Prevention of Ragging Act, 1997, and its amendments. The law was first implemented by the state of Tamil Nadu.
The SC directive that banned ragging
In 2001, the Supreme Court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Vishwa Jagriti against the increase in incidents of ragging in educational institutions in India. The apex court gave a landmark judgement, while “broadly speaking” on ragging, paving the way for a ban on ragging in India.
Supreme Court defined ragging as "Any disorderly conduct whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness any other student, indulging in rowdy or undisciplined activities which causes or is likely to cause annoyance, hardship or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in a fresher or a junior student or asking the students to do any act or perform something which such student will not in the ordinary course and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche of a fresher or a junior student."
“The cause of indulging in ragging is deriving a sadistic pleasure or showing off power, authority or superiority by the seniors over their juniors or freshers,” it observed and issued a set of guidelines for institutions to follow from the moment of advertisement for admissions.
But it was only in 2009 when the top court was hearing another ragging case – the death of Aman Kachru, a medical student in Dharmshala – that prompted it to appoint a seven-member panel headed by former Central Bureau of Investigation director Dr RK Raghavan to recommend anti-ragging measures.
Anti-ragging guidelines
Based on the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee, the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2009 formulated guidelines against ragging and made it mandatory for all higher educational institutions to follow the rules, failing which there would be strict action.
According to the guidelines, “The institution shall set up appropriate committees, including the course-incharge, student advisor, Wardens and some senior students as its members, to actively monitor, promote and regulate healthy interaction between the freshers, junior students and senior students.”
A toll-free helpline (1800-180-5522) was set up for complaints about ragging with the provision to register your complaint in 12 different languages.
Similarly, the regulations were also amended into the All India Council for Technical Education’s AICTE Act, 1987, to include All India Council for Technical Education (Prevention and Prohibition of Ragging in Technical Institutions, Universities including Deemed to be Universities imparting technical education) under Sections 23 and 10.
Section 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, was also amended to include “Medical Council of India (Prevention and Prohibition of Ragging in Medical Colleges/Institutions) Regulations, 2009”.
Thousands of cases still go unreported
Although the Supreme Court directive and the subsequent rules brought in a welcome change, holding the perpetrators accountable, it was not enough to prevent ragging from being a regular activity in many colleges across India.
According to Dr Ajay Saini, a professor at IIT Delhi, the laws against ragging are not enough as there are other external factors that aid ragging incidents in colleges.
“Although the laws are in place in every institute, local politics play a very important role (in ragging). Especially in state universities, instances of ragging are more because the students are either members of a union or they have friends in the union, or they know a local MLA or people of the ruling party. And the student getting ragged is often from the weaker section of society,” he says.
In the case of the Jadavpur University incident, however, there is no known involvement of perpetrators with political connections. Instead, it was a case where former students were allowed to stay on campus risking the life of a fresher. The victim belonged to a humble family in the Nadia district of West Bengal and had taken admission to the esteemed college with big dreams. Was it then the university that failed him in serving its duty of care? Was the need for surveillance lost by the college that boasts of its freedom and takes pride in its excellent teacher-student relations?
“It is gross negligence on the part of the college authorities and management,” says Hiten Mukherjee, an alumnus of Jadavpur University. “In the name of freedom, the campus is now too open where anything can happen and there is no surveillance.”
Speaking on the brewing debate around the lack of CCTV cameras on campus and hostel, the former student added that there was a need to record what is happening. “There’s a need to record these incidents to stop them from happening. How can there be surveillance if the authorities are not doing anything to keep a check on these situations? You call yourself (the university) liberal but there is no accountability about these incidents,” he notes.
When fear and taboo hold precedence over laws
“Out of 100 cases of ragging, maybe about 15 get reported,” says Senior Designated Counsel Jal Soli Unwalla.
According to Unwalla, the laws around ragging are sufficient for their reporting but the flaw also lies in societal conditions that result in the cases going unreported. “The insufficiency lies in the courage of the parents and the children to come out and report an incident. The laws are absolutely in place. Even if there was no anti-ragging case, there are provisions in the Indian Penal Code that can also take care of many of the cases.”
While he agrees that there is a need to make the anti-ragging laws in India more stringent, he adds that the root cause is somewhere else. Ragging, he says, “is a cumulative effect of everything – the social taboo, the peer pressure, humiliation by course students, pressure from college authorities. But, essentially it is the lack of vigilance and security by the college and hostel authorities.”
“We need to nip it in the bud. Ragging needs to be stopped right where it originates, where the opportunities prevail. Campuses, especially the hostel areas need to have proper and perfect security in place. It may come at a huge expense but it is for the safety of the children. If there’s proper security, there would be no opportunity for ragging,” Unwalla notes.