The Hindu : New Delhi News : Anti-ragging committee for a ragging-free JNU

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Thursday, Jul 26, 2007
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Anti-ragging committee for a ragging-free JNU

Parul Sharma

In line with apex court directive to combat ragging
“JNU is not vulnerable to any form of ragging”

NEW DELHI: In line with the Supreme Court directive instructing educational institutions to be pro-active in dealing with the menace of ragging, Jawaharlal Nehru University has set up an anti-ragging committee, the first since its inception.

For an institution that has almost no history of ragging, the committee will seek to work in tandem with student councillors of different schools at JNU to deal with such cases, if any. The committee will meet next month to outline a clearer role for its members as the new academic year begins on August 1.

The three-member committee is headed by the Dean of School of International Studies, Pushpesh Pant. “Ragging as a concept is alien to JNU. No student has ever complained of ragging in my four decades of association with the University. Our girls are safe on the campus even at midnight, while boys have also never been subject to ragging at any level,” he said.

“When I received the notification about the new committee last week, I was really surprised because we really do not need something like this on our campus. In fact, all these years I have wondered why other institutions have not learnt from JNU. Our University is not vulnerable to any form of ragging, not even an occasional incident of a fresher being asked to sing a song or something like that. We have a mixed crowd and there is a lot of freedom on the campus. Our students are also very active and see to it that JNU remains ragging-free.” Prof. Pant pointed out the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment also takes care of a lot of such issues.

“Everyone lived like a family. The relationship between the teacher and the taught was very good. The students’ union of the early years should be given credit for initiating a positive tradition and inculcating the right attitude on the campus that have been duly continued by others over the years,” said Prof. Pant.

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