Bhubaneswar: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education in its recently submitted report has expressed concern over the rising cases of ragging in various higher educational institutes of the country.
The parliamentary Panel led by senior Congress RS member Digvijaya Singh submitted its report recently. The report has mentioned that the number of complaints on ragging registered by UGC Helpline has doubled over the years, save for the Covid years.
The Parliamentary panel report has revealed that country is registering nearly 3 ragging complaints every day.
The UGC anti ragging helpline that was started in the year 2016 had reported 515 ragging complaints, the number doubled within 2-years. During the pandemic years, the complaints saw obvious decline.
- 2020 – 219
- 2021 – 532
- 2022 – 883
- 2023 – 962
- 2024 – 1084
- 2025 (upto Feb 10) – 110
PARLIAMENTARY PANEL FOR COUNSELLING CENTRES
Expressing concern over the rise in ragging and caste discrimination/violence cases in higher educational institutes in the country, the panel has recommended the following
“In order to ensure a supportive learning environment, the Committee recommends that all HEIs to establish on-campus counseling centers with trained psychologists and mental health professionals and implement 24/7 helplines and online counselling services for students.”
MEDICAL COLLEGES TOP IN RAGGING
When Society Against Violence in Education (SAVE) in its recently released report has named medical colleges leading in ragging complaints in the country, the National Medical Commission has revealed the following.
- Uttar Pradesh – 33
- Bihar – 17
- Rajasthan – 15
- Madhya Pradesh – 12
- Maharashtra – 10
- Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu – 8 each
A glance at the SAVE report released recently has revealed how acutely the ragging menace has been gripping the medical colleges across the country.
Despite making up only 1.1% of total students in India, Medical colleges account for
- 38.6% of total complaints
- 35.4% of serious complaints
- 45.1% of ragging-related deaths
MKCG MEDICAL COLLEGE TOP RAGGING HOTSPOT
While the SAVE report has highlighted the grim scenario of ragging in medical colleges across the country, the grim fact is Odisha govt run MKCG Medical College sits at the top in the hall of shame list.
As per the SAVE report, MKCG has been the country’s top ragging hotspot during the period of 2022-24. The govt run medical college tops in ragging complaints smong all the medical colleges in the country.
- MKCG Medical College – 25
- JLN Memorial Medical College, Chhattisgarh – 15
- VIMS, Bihar – 14
- State Takmeel-Ut-Tib College and Hospital, UP – 12
- Maulana Azad Medical college, Delhi - 11
The same report has listed the Odisha government run MKCG Medical College at Berhampur among the top ragging hotspots in the country.
It has ranked the medical college of the State as number 2 among all colleges, based on the number of ragging complaints lodged in the calendar year 2024.
- University of Lukcnow, Uttar Pradesh – 15
- MKCG Medical College, Odisha – 9
- BHU campus, Uttar Pradesh – 8
- IIT Kharagpur – 8
- MGM Medical College, Jharkhand – 7
The SAVE has tagged the MKCG Medical College a top ragging hotspot, after taking into account the number of complaints registered during the period 2022-24. Here are the findings.
- BHU Campus Uttar Pradesh – 30
- MKCG Medical College – 25
- Haldia Institute of Technology, West Bengal – 23
- University of Lucknow – 22
- Maulana Azad NIT, MP – 21
UNIVERSITIES IN TOP RAGGING HOTSPOTS
The SAVE report titled Status of Ragging In India – 2022-24 has also declared the following universities in the country as ragging hotspots, based on the ragging complaints listed. The list includes a govt-run university from Odisha. Here is the list.
2022-2024 CALENDAR YEAR: RAGGING HOTSPOTS
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal – 75
- Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University – 75
- BHU – 42
- University of Lucknow – 40
- Berhampur University, Odisha - 31
TOP ENGINEERING/POLYTECH RAGGING HOTSPOTS
The SAVE report has ranked the BPUT among the top ragging hotspot engineering universities. The list ranked BPUT at 4th nationally.
- Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, WB – 74
- Bihar Engineering University – 61
- APJ Abdul KalamTechnical University, UP – 40
- BPUT, Odisha – 28
In the list of Polytechnic colleges, Odisha’s Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang, Odisha , has been ranked at number 2 ragging hotspot during the period 2022-24 with 22 complaints.
BOTTOMLINE: The above home-truths about ragging menace in the State highlights how govt-run universities and medical colleges have turn the ragging dens in the country. The Odisha government has to go for audit of the Anti-ragging committees set up in the dubious rank holder institutes to ensure zero tolerance to ragging in govt run colleges and universities.
