Unhappy With Second Report Too, UGC Seeks More Clarifications From JU

Kolkata: Not satisfied with the second round of clarification from Jadavpur University (JU) relating to the death of a fresher of the university on August 10, the University Grants Commission (UGCC) has decided to seek another round of clarification from the varsity authorities in this matter.

The first-year student of Bengali honours died under mysterious circumstances after falling from the balcony of a students' hostel on August 10. It is suspected that he became a victim of ragging.

The UGC has already communicated to JU authorities about the fresh clarification and a detailed mail in this regard will be sent shortly. JU sent two rounds of clarification to the commission last week on the steps adopted by the university authorities to prevent incidents of ragging and harassment of first-year students on the university campus.

The first reply was sent at the beginning of last week. However, after the commission expressed dissatisfaction over the first report and sought clarifications on 12 specific points, the JU authorities had given its second reply attaching 31 files in it.

Now, the JU authorities are ready to send the third reply with a team of the anti-ragging cell of the commission scheduled to visit the university campus next week for an on-ground investigation.

Meanwhile, at a meeting convened by the newly-appointed interim vice-chancellor of Buddhadeb Sau on Monday, it has been decided to set up a quick response team to address cases of ragging, be it within the campus or in the students' hostels.

The quick response team will operate within a 2 km radius area of the university campus. However, no final decision was taken about installing CCTV cameras within the university campus at the meeting.