UGC moots helpline for ragging complaints

Lodging a complaint about ragging will be a phone call away from June 15. A national call centre will be set up by the government to enable victims of the ragging from across the country to dial a toll free number to register complaints.

The helpline will have a software which will pass on the message to the head of the educational institutions within 15 minutes so as to help the administration to swing into action for rescue of the victim students.

“The Education Consultancy India Ltd (ECIL) has been entrusted with the job of setting up of the national call centre. By June 15, it will be operational,” UGC Chairman Prof Sukhadeo Thorat said. He said the helpline will operate round the clock and UGC will monitor its functioning. The UGC will also inform the institutions about the toll free number which can be passed on to the students for use.

The UGC has come up with a stringent regulation to check ragging. The regulations say students can be fined up to Rs 2.5 lakh if found guilty of ragging. The offence will be treated as a severe criminal act at par with rape.

The UGC regulations provide for rustication of a student for a period from one to four semesters.

The UGC regulations stipulate that students can be expelled from an institute and debarred from taking admission to any other institute for a specified period after being found guilty of the offence.

The regulations were adopted at a meeting of 13 different councils, including Medical Council of India (MCI) and state councils in April, Thorat said.

Besides asking for written undertakings from students and parents during admission that they know the law on ragging and would abide by the same, a report on the behavioural pattern of the applicant should also furnished.

The regulations say the institutions need to set up anti-ragging squads and sensitise students against ragging. If an institution fails to comply to the provisions of the regulation, the affiliating university can withdraw the affiliation or recognition.

Grants allocated by the university could be withdrawn from such institutes which do not comply to provisions of the regulations. The UGC could also declare such institutes as ineligible for consideration under the special assistance programmes.

Students seeking admission to hostels shall have to submit separate undertakings for hostel accommodation. The UGC will also constitute an inter-council committee, consisting of representatives from organisations like AICTE, IITs, NITs, IIMs, MCI and ICAR, for prevention of ragging.

The UGC will set up an anti-ragging cell within the commission as an institutional mechanism for collecting information and monitoring.

At the commencement of academic session, the head of the institutions shall convene meetings of various functionaries, including students’ representatives, parents, faculty and district administration, to discuss the measures taken to prevent ragging. The institutes will also identify, properly illuminate and man the vulnerable locations, the draft regulations said.