To stop ragging-related suicides, Modi govt to make 1-week induction mandatory in colleges
Govt hopes the induction programme will not only help freshers get accustomed to a college campus but also help them interact with seniors.
KRITIKA SHARMA Updated: 26 July, 2019 8:47 am IST
University students (representational image) | Bloomberg
New Delhi: The Modi government has decided to include a mandatory one-week induction programme for all students in higher education institutions, in a bid to curb ragging-related suicide cases on campus.
The government hopes that the induction programme will not only help freshers get accustomed to the college campus but also help them interact with their seniors. The decision is a result of the concern in the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry at ragging-related suicides in colleges.
According to data with the University Grants Commission (UGC), between 2012 and July 2019, 54 ragging-related suicide incidents have occurred across the country.
“In the initial days, students are exposed to ragging incidents,” a senior HRD ministry official said. “If we have an induction programme where they are made familiar to each other and their seniors before the academic session begins, they will be able to establish a rapport in the college and there is no question of ragging.”
An official in HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank’s office told ThePrint that he is “very serious” about not tolerating ragging in educational institutions.
“He has clearly communicated to all educational institutions to have a zero-tolerance policy towards ragging and having an induction programme before the academic session is one of the ways he wants to prevent ragging,” he said.
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Induction will help students get accustomed to campus
The HRD ministry also hopes that the induction will help students familiarise themselves with the institution, its surroundings, library, activities and various societies during the one-week programme.
“We have to understand that a student who comes to college is experiencing a new environment and may find difficulties in adjusting,” the senior ministry official quoted above said. “That’s why we want all higher education institutions to have a mandatory one-week induction programme for students, during which period they should be accustomed to the institution.”
So far, only the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have induction programmes as they had been reporting suicides on campus owing to huge pressure.
