Now, an HRD group on plight of ragging ‘victims’

Those who commit ragging and those at the receiving end of it will soon meet unlikely interviewers, away from the security of the college cafe...

Those who commit ragging and those at the receiving end of it will soon meet unlikely interviewers, away from the security of the college cafe — a committee set up by the Human Resource Development Ministry to look into the problem of ragging will talk to raggers and their victims over the next two months.

The HRD group, with former CBI director R K Raghavan at the helm, will meet students in various higher- education institutes and try to understand the “ground realities” that lead to the harassment of new-comers. An HRD source said the panel’s members were keen to understand the psychology

behind ragging so that a proper remedy could be suggested.

The panel’s task is to examine the means and methods of preventing ragging and the possible action that can be taken against a student or the college/university for such acts.

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The panel was formed following an order by a Supreme Court bench, headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat, in the University of Kerala versus the Council of Principals case.

Besides Raghavan, the committee has IIT-Kanpur director SG Dhande, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) Dean AK Agarwal, Ramjas College Principal Rajendra Prasad and Joint Secretary (Higher Education) Sunil Kumar as members.

“The committee will also meet teachers, parents, psychologists and hold public discussions to understand the magnitude of the problem,” said the source. The group has already decided to hold public discussions on cases of ragging in Delhi, Chennai, Bhopal, Patna, Cochin, Guwahati, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune. The team is also expected to visit high-profile institutes like the IITs and medical colleges, where ragging is rampant.