Strangely, 19 ragging cases were reported from Madhya Pradesh from January to October, 2020 – a period when most colleges and universities remained closed due to Covid pandemic.
Madhya Pradesh earns distinction for remaining in top three states, as far as ragging cases are concerned for past about two decades. Guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) have proved to yield little results in MP as ragging cases go unabated in its colleges and universities.
At present, Madhya Pradesh stands second in ragging cases with 19 cases this year (from January to October). Highest, 21 cases have been reported from Uttar Pradesh while MP and Maharashtra both have reported 19 cases each.
Corona induced lockdown has reduced number of ragging cases in India drastically. Overall, 183 cases from across the nation were reported from January to October this year. The same figure for previous year (2019) stood at 1070.
Considering this fact, the UGC has sent a letter to all colleges and universities to ensure all steps to stop menace of ragging in their states. It has also asked top management to take strict action in ragging cases so that it set example and deter it in future.
In 2020, zero cases of ragging were reported from 14 states including Andaman and Nicobar, Arunachal Pradesh, Daman and Diu, Lakshadeep, Nagaland, Dadar and Nagar Haweli, Goa, Meghalaya, Manipur, Sikkim, Puduchery, Tripura, Jammu and Kashmir and neighbouring Chhattisgarh.
Uttar Pradesh reported 21 cases, MP and Maharashtra 19, Odisha 17, West Bengal 16, Kerela 14, Tamil Nadu 11 and 10 cases of ragging were reported from Bihar.
MP ranked third in ragging cases in 2003. For past two consecutive years, MP was on top as far as ragging cases were concerned. At present Uttar Pradesh is on the top while MP stands second.
Experts are of view that in Madhya Pradesh, no strict action is taken against the guilty. They are generally given warning and let off. This encourages students to continue with the menace.
