Ragging is strictly banned on campus and can attract serious repercussions from the University administration.
Ragging is a criminal offence and is governed by the Anti-Ragging Code of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The University is firm on ensuring that the UGC framed regulations on prohibition, prevention, and elimination of ragging are strictly followed on campus.
What constitutes as Ragging?
- Causing, inducing, compelling or forcing a student, whether by way of a practical joke or otherwise, to do any act which detracts from human dignity or violates their dignity;
- Exposes the individual to ridicule;
- Compels the individual to forbear from doing any lawful act by:
- Intimidating, wrongful restraint, wrongful confinement, or injuring the individual by using criminal force;
- Threat of intimidation, wrongful restraint, wrongful confinement, injury, or the use of criminal force.
- Any action that can threaten the physical or mental health of an individual.
The UGC Guidelines to Prevent Ragging:
- In 2009, the SC in another case dealt with the ragging issue appointed a committee headed by former CBI Director RK Raghavan.
- The recommendations of the committee were subsequently formalised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in the form of detailed guidelines for universities on anti-ragging.
- The guidelines [The Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions] include 9 explanations of what could constitute ragging:
- Teasing, treating or handling a fellow student with rudeness;
- Causing physical or psychological harm;
- Causing or generating a sense of shame;
- Academic activity of any other student or a fresher;
- Exploiting a fresher or any other student for completing academic tasks assigned to an Individual or a group of students;
- Financial extortion or forceful expenditure;
- Homosexual assaults, stripping, forcing obscene and
- Lewd acts, gestures, causing bodily harm.
- At an institutional level, the UGC requires universities to declare its intent publicly to prevent ragging and requires students to sign an undertaking that they will not engage in ragging activities.
- 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 and seniors.
- If found guilty by the anti-ragging committee, the UGC guidelines require any member of the committee to “proceed to file a First Information Report (FIR), within 24 hours of receipt of such information.
