Ragging in Tamil Nadu sees 30 pc rise in 3 yrs, Anna Uni 2nd in India in case count

Ragging in Tamil Nadu continues to be on the rise as the state has registered a 30% increases in cases registered, according to a report by Ram Sundaram in The Times of India. 

Moreover, according to a University Grants Commission (UGC) report, Anna University which is Asia’s largest technical institution, recorded the second highest number of ragging incidents in the country from 2009 to 2017. A total of 166 cases were registered by students from 532 affiliated colleges. 

A Chidambaram medical college student’s murder in Tamil Nadu in 1996, had led to the passing of the first anti-ragging law in the country, the ToI report says. 

A state-level committee created under the chairmanship of governor-chancellor concerning this, had recently claimed that the practice has been completely wiped out. 

UGC figures however point otherwise. There has been an increase in the number of ragging complaints registered with 43% cases recorded in 2017 being the highest in the last four years. 

Many of the complaints were from colleges in Tier-II cities and rural areas and from professional colleges attached to Anna University and Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University. Nearly 88% of all complainants were men staying in hostels. 

The latest incident of ragging was reported on September 19 in Madras Medical College and is yet to be resolved, as per UGC sources. 

UGC sources have alleged that lax response from the college authorities manning the helpline gives more time for the perpetrators to flee. 

The UGC report further states that of only 950 cases of the 3,300 complaints received across the country were registered. Most of the perpetrators were let off with a warning or penalty while only 35% of them got suspended or rusticated. 

Action taken by the colleges was poor since out of every three complaints made to the college authorities, one was escalated to higher regulatory authorities. 

A Hindu report of 2013 had indicated that Tamil Nadu had recorded the fifth highest number of ragging incidents in the country as per calls made to the UGC helpline.