Ragging menace at BJ forces fresher to dial UGC for help
UGC helpline telephoned college five times and emailed the complaint to authorities, yet dean claims he got no complaint from anyone regarding ragging
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, September 17, 2013 http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/201309172013091702094131acbd74b1/Ragging-menace-at-BJ-forces-fresher-to-dial-UGC-for-help.html
REFUGE FROM RAGGING | CALL: 1800-180-5522 | EMAIL: HELPLINE@ANTIRAGGING.IN
Unable to sleep, study or eat due to constant harassment by seniors, a first year student of B J Medical College has turned to University Grants Commission for help. The male student called 1800-180-5522 — its national anti-ragging helpline — claiming that freshers in the boys’ hostel were being mentally harassed by their seniors. Clueless about whom to approach within the college, the boy had approached UGC.
However, it seems to have done little good as even though UGC called the college five times and even emailed the complaint to the authorities, its dean claims ignorance about the matter. UGC has not disclosed the name of the complainant who called its helpline on September 14 around 10.30 am. In the next one hour, they called B J Medical authorities five times to inform them of the situation. Finally, they sent an email under complaint number GJ-788 to the dean at 12.51 pm. Areliable source at UGC said, “The caller identified himself as a first year student of B J Medical student. He said that seniors were harassing freshers a lot. The torment would begin at 10 pm and go on until 4 am. Students were made to sing and perform various jobs. If they refused, they were punished.”
SCARED STUDENTS
On finding about the complaint, Mirror visited B J Medical College and spoke to several first year students. Scared of retaliation, they initially refused to talk. However, they gradually opened up, and out tumbled a story of frustration, helplessness and suppressed anger. First year students began living in hostels from August 26. An 18-year-old student said, “The first day they called us to their hostel, the seniors asked us if we knew anything about ragging or the anti-ragging committee. When we replied in the negative, they forced us to write down telephone numbers of the anti-ragging committee members.
They boasted that no one could touch them.” “Since then, each student has been called by separate groups of seniors and ragged multiple times. Interestingly, if a student is from North Gujarat, only those seniors who belong to North Gujarat will rag him. The same goes for students from South Gujarat,” said a 17-yearold hosteller. Another student, refusing to be named, said, “We live in D Block while seniors stay in B Block a couple of metres away.
They will send someone to call us after 10 pm and then the drama begins. We are made to recite our entire biodata repeatedly. Singing songs, making us dance and fetching tea is a common pastime for them. They make us write their journals and do other menial jobs. “One day, a senior wrote a note and sent my classmate to get the dean’s signature on it at 2 am. He walked to the dean’s house and got the letter signed by the security guard.”
Another student, visibly shaken, said, “We can neither sleep nor prepare for our tests. When we joined the hostel, we were told that no one could enter or leave the hostel after 10 pm. There is a security guard posted at the entrance but he neither stops the seniors from entering the building nor stops us from leaving. The rector keeps government office timings and is out by 6 pm. He has no inkling of what happens here at night. “We used to think that 3 Idiots was just a movie, and the ragging scene in it was exaggerated.
Now we know that such things happen in real life. Everyone knows this happens. The teachers and staff members are aware of what goes on here. However, no one does anything.” ALMOST IN TEARS Girls who study in the first year backed what their classmates had to say. “The boys are literally in tears because they cannot even have their food in peace, forget sleeping or studying. They are called any time during the night. The seniors make them write journals or interview them for hours. Separate groups rag them, one after the other.
The torture never ends,” said a female student. The college has an anti-ragging cell but no one has any clue where it is located. There are no boards at the hostel to inform students about it. Meanwhile, asked if they received any communication about the complaint, Dean Bharat Shah stated, “Our college anti- ragging panel has received no complaint from anyone. Nothing of this sort has happened here.
The anti-ragging committee will meet on Tuesday. We will take immediate action if we receive a complaint.” However, the first year boys have little faith in the college management. “Around 3 or 4 pm on Monday, some staff members came to our class, distributed forms and asked us to write the block numbers we stay in. We were also asked to write that we knew everything about the anti-ragging cell in the college and that we had never been ragged so far. No one bothered to ask if this were true,” said a first year student. “How can we expect any help from them?”
REFUGE FROM RAGGING CALL: 1800-180-5522
EMAIL: helpline@antiragging.in
The anti-ragging helpline is a nationwide, toll-free number where students, parents or anybody can call 24x7. On getting a complaint call, authorities will respond within minutes by informing college authorities, and keep a close watch on the situation and if necessary inform the police. The police in turn will be obliged to file an FIR as soon as the complaint has been registered. Even if a student has directly gone to their head of institutions and made a complaint, please make sure you register a complaint with the helpline as well. If the complainant does not want to disclose his/her identity, they can still register their complaint on the helpline. Anonymity of the caller shall be maintained upon their request. After necessary action is taken, the student will get a call or an email confirmation containing details of his or her complaint and action taken.
OTHER COMPLAINTS
This is not the first ragging complaint that has emerged from B J Medical College. UGC has a record of other complaints made by medical students over past two months. The other colleges in the city from where students have filed ragging complaints include K S School of Business Management and National Institute of Design. Complaints have also been filed by students of Gujarat National Law University in Gandhinagar, Anand Law College, Narsinhbhai Patel Dental College in Visnagar and M P Shah Government Medical College in Jamnagar.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Tuesday, September 17, 2013 http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/201309172013091702094131acbd74b1/Ragging-menace-at-BJ-forces-fresher-to-dial-UGC-for-help.html
REFUGE FROM RAGGING | CALL: 1800-180-5522 | EMAIL: HELPLINE@ANTIRAGGING.IN
Unable to sleep, study or eat due to constant harassment by seniors, a first year student of B J Medical College has turned to University Grants Commission for help. The male student called 1800-180-5522 — its national anti-ragging helpline — claiming that freshers in the boys’ hostel were being mentally harassed by their seniors. Clueless about whom to approach within the college, the boy had approached UGC.
However, it seems to have done little good as even though UGC called the college five times and even emailed the complaint to the authorities, its dean claims ignorance about the matter. UGC has not disclosed the name of the complainant who called its helpline on September 14 around 10.30 am. In the next one hour, they called B J Medical authorities five times to inform them of the situation. Finally, they sent an email under complaint number GJ-788 to the dean at 12.51 pm. Areliable source at UGC said, “The caller identified himself as a first year student of B J Medical student. He said that seniors were harassing freshers a lot. The torment would begin at 10 pm and go on until 4 am. Students were made to sing and perform various jobs. If they refused, they were punished.”
SCARED STUDENTS
On finding about the complaint, Mirror visited B J Medical College and spoke to several first year students. Scared of retaliation, they initially refused to talk. However, they gradually opened up, and out tumbled a story of frustration, helplessness and suppressed anger. First year students began living in hostels from August 26. An 18-year-old student said, “The first day they called us to their hostel, the seniors asked us if we knew anything about ragging or the anti-ragging committee. When we replied in the negative, they forced us to write down telephone numbers of the anti-ragging committee members.
They boasted that no one could touch them.” “Since then, each student has been called by separate groups of seniors and ragged multiple times. Interestingly, if a student is from North Gujarat, only those seniors who belong to North Gujarat will rag him. The same goes for students from South Gujarat,” said a 17-yearold hosteller. Another student, refusing to be named, said, “We live in D Block while seniors stay in B Block a couple of metres away.
They will send someone to call us after 10 pm and then the drama begins. We are made to recite our entire biodata repeatedly. Singing songs, making us dance and fetching tea is a common pastime for them. They make us write their journals and do other menial jobs. “One day, a senior wrote a note and sent my classmate to get the dean’s signature on it at 2 am. He walked to the dean’s house and got the letter signed by the security guard.”
Another student, visibly shaken, said, “We can neither sleep nor prepare for our tests. When we joined the hostel, we were told that no one could enter or leave the hostel after 10 pm. There is a security guard posted at the entrance but he neither stops the seniors from entering the building nor stops us from leaving. The rector keeps government office timings and is out by 6 pm. He has no inkling of what happens here at night. “We used to think that 3 Idiots was just a movie, and the ragging scene in it was exaggerated.
Now we know that such things happen in real life. Everyone knows this happens. The teachers and staff members are aware of what goes on here. However, no one does anything.” ALMOST IN TEARS Girls who study in the first year backed what their classmates had to say. “The boys are literally in tears because they cannot even have their food in peace, forget sleeping or studying. They are called any time during the night. The seniors make them write journals or interview them for hours. Separate groups rag them, one after the other.
The torture never ends,” said a female student. The college has an anti-ragging cell but no one has any clue where it is located. There are no boards at the hostel to inform students about it. Meanwhile, asked if they received any communication about the complaint, Dean Bharat Shah stated, “Our college anti- ragging panel has received no complaint from anyone. Nothing of this sort has happened here.
The anti-ragging committee will meet on Tuesday. We will take immediate action if we receive a complaint.” However, the first year boys have little faith in the college management. “Around 3 or 4 pm on Monday, some staff members came to our class, distributed forms and asked us to write the block numbers we stay in. We were also asked to write that we knew everything about the anti-ragging cell in the college and that we had never been ragged so far. No one bothered to ask if this were true,” said a first year student. “How can we expect any help from them?”
REFUGE FROM RAGGING CALL: 1800-180-5522
EMAIL: helpline@antiragging.in
The anti-ragging helpline is a nationwide, toll-free number where students, parents or anybody can call 24x7. On getting a complaint call, authorities will respond within minutes by informing college authorities, and keep a close watch on the situation and if necessary inform the police. The police in turn will be obliged to file an FIR as soon as the complaint has been registered. Even if a student has directly gone to their head of institutions and made a complaint, please make sure you register a complaint with the helpline as well. If the complainant does not want to disclose his/her identity, they can still register their complaint on the helpline. Anonymity of the caller shall be maintained upon their request. After necessary action is taken, the student will get a call or an email confirmation containing details of his or her complaint and action taken.
OTHER COMPLAINTS
This is not the first ragging complaint that has emerged from B J Medical College. UGC has a record of other complaints made by medical students over past two months. The other colleges in the city from where students have filed ragging complaints include K S School of Business Management and National Institute of Design. Complaints have also been filed by students of Gujarat National Law University in Gandhinagar, Anand Law College, Narsinhbhai Patel Dental College in Visnagar and M P Shah Government Medical College in Jamnagar.
