Gujarat to punish victims, witnesses if they don't report ragging incidents

Ahmedabad: The victims of ragging or its witnesses who do not report such incidents shall also be punished suitably, the Gujarat government has said in its resolution to curb the menace of ragging in higher educational institutions.

The punishment for ragging shall range from suspension from attending classes and academic privileges to expulsion, as well as dismissal to an extent that a student cannot be admitted in any educational institution for a period of five years, the government resolution (GR) said.

It also makes provisions for a collective punishment when persons committing or abetting the crime are not identified.

"Freshers who do not report the incidents of ragging either as victims or as witnesses shall also be punished suitably," stated the GR issued by the higher education department on Tuesday.

The state government on Wednesday submitted a copy of the GR before a division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal hearing a suo motu PIL on the incidents of ragging in medical colleges.

The government said the GR was based on the regulations on ragging issued by the University Grants Commission and the All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE).

The GR mandates the migration or transfer certificate issued to students by the institution to have an entry on whether the student was punished for the offence of committing or abetting ragging.

It shall also carry an entry on whether the student has displayed "persistent violent or aggressive behaviour or any inclination to harm others", the order said.

The GR also makes access to mobile phones and public phones unrestricted in hostels and campuses. On the other hand, use of phones shall be restricted with jammers in class rooms, seminar halls and libraries, etc, it said.

The rules also mandate the heads of institutions other than universities to submit weekly reports on the status of compliance with anti-ragging measures to the vice chancellor of the university to which they are affiliated for the first three months of a new academic year, and thereafter every month.

Periodic psychological counselling, awareness campaigns through posters, workshops, etc, and inclusion of anti-ragging topics in teacher training programmes and BEd courses are other measures listed in the GR to curb the menace.

Also, privately managed lodges and hostels will have to be registered with local police authorities, and local the police, administration and institutions will have to maintain vigil and will be held responsible for action in the event of ragging in such premises, it said.

Among other measures, institutions are required to announce in advertisements for admissions that ragging is completely banned, and the prospectus and other admission related documents shall incorporate all directions of the Supreme Court and/or state and central governments for the same, the GR said.

Institutions will have to inform parents/guardians of the students who are completing the first year through a letter informing them about the anti-ragging law, and appeal to them to insist upon their wards to desist from indulging in ragging when they come back to the institutions during the next academic year.

The GR also mandates institutions to form anti-ragging committees with representatives of faculty members, parents and students belonging to the freshers' category as well as senior and non-teaching staff.

Institutes shall also form an anti-ragging squad and a monitoring cell regarding compliance with the instructions on conducting orientation programmes, counselling sessions regarding the incidents of ragging, the GR said.