Ragging up by 70%, UP on top with 138 incidents

NEW DELHI: Cases of ragging on varsity and college campuses registered an all-time high this year with institutions reporting 889 cases till Tuesday.

The number is an increase of 70% over last year’s figure of 515. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 138 cases — up from 93 last year— followed by Madhya Pradesh with 100, up from 55 last year.

These details were provided by the government in reply to a question in the Parliament.

The numbers have spiked despite the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) directions to all institutions to put anti-ragging measures in place.

The Government Polytechnic, Kanpur, with 17 cases, topped the list of individual institutions which recorded cases this year.

When asked about the high number of cases, the principal of the college, Rajkumar Singh said, “This year, the institute received six complaints and the anti-ragging committee looked into them... In two cases, the students were suspended for one month. They were allowed to resume classes following a comprehensive review along with undertakings. In most cases, students file the complaint to settle scores with other students over a feud.”

In terms of the number of cases reported from individual institutions since 2012, Banaras Hindu University topped the list with 36 cases, followed by MP’s Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology that registered 31 cases. West Bengal also registered an increase from 50 to 92.

“Students and parents feel more confident in reporting such cases now as they feel action will be taken. This is one of the major reasons behind the increase in the number of cases reported,” said Raj Kachroo, Founder of Aman movement, a monitoring agency for UGC.