Bhubaneswar: Despite rigorous campaigns, ragging continues unabated across the country and Odisha too is not an exception. The number of ragging cases has increased in Odisha placing it sixth among all states in the country as per the Union HRD Ministry.
As per the data based on reports of the University Grants Commission (UGC) shared by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar in Rajya Sabha, the number of ragging cases reported in universities and other higher education institutions has doubled in the last three years in the country.
In response to a written question in the Rajya Sabha on 23rd July 2018, Javadekar informed that a total of 1,839 complaints of ragging were received by the UGC during the last three years.
Out of the total ragging incidents, students have been punished in 812 cases, including suspension in 309 cases.
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47 ragging cases were reported in Odisha in 2017 against 30 cases in 2015 and 28 in 2016.
However, Higher Education minister Anant Das was not ready to accept such findings as he claimed that no ragging incidents have come to their notice.
“I have no reports of ragging in Odisha. I fail to understand from where the HRD ministry complied such data,” said Das.
Meanwhile, in view of the admission season, the authorities of various educational institutions have already launched awareness drives on their respective campuses to prevent ragging.
“As admission process is on, we are alert and trying to ensure that Utkal University campus is ragging-free,” said Utkal University Anti-Ragging cell’s nodal officer, Santosh Tripathy.