Despite ban, 58 ragging complaints in 3 years

Despite a ban, medical colleges in India reported 58 incidents of ragging over the past three academic years, according to the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) anti-ragging cell.

The medical education regulator received 31 complaints in 2017-18, the highest in this period. There were 13 cases each in the other two academic sessions — 2018-19 and 2016-17. There has been no complaint in the current session so far. In 2007, the Supreme Court issued guidelines for the prevention and prohibition of ragging in educational institutions.

A nationwide toll-free helpline 1800-180-5522 has been set up by the University Grants Commission (UGC) following the top court’s directive.

Checking ragging within the college campus is the responsibility of individual colleges, but the MCI continuously monitors the situation, especially at the beginning of a semester when chances of a fresher being ragged are high.

“We have a zero tolerance policy towards ragging in medical colleges. We have an active antiragging cell, and as soon as we receive a complaint from a student, we refer it to the cell that immediately acts on it,” said Dr R K Vats, secretary general, Board of Governors-Medical Council of India (BoG-MCI).

Each year, the MCI issues an advisory to colleges at the start of a session, asking them to respond to a complaint of ragging with a heavy hand.

After the Supreme Court order, the UGC had notified “Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions” in 2009 that are mandatory for all institutions.

The measures to be taken by an institute include the constitution of an anti-ragging committee [to look into complaints], anti-ragging squad [for on, and an antiragging cell among others.