To ensure proper implementation of anti-ragging measures in educational institutions, and alarmed at the spate of bank robberies in the industrial township of Baddi-Barotiwala, and rampant drug peddling, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal on Thursday directed law-enforcing agencies to deploy plainclothes policemen in every higher educational institution where admissions were taking place. The policemen have been also instructed to check entry of drug peddlers and anti-social elements in institutions.

The order, passed during a review meeting of the state police department, came in the backdrop of the recent death of a first-year MBBS student, Aman Kachroo, due to ragging in a medical college. Cases of ragging were also reported from Indira Gandhi Medical College, Sanawar-based Lawrence School, and Homeopathic College, Solan.

Principal Secretary (Home) Subash Negi said, “The posting of cops at educational institutions will have a deterrent effect. But what the CM wants is that all those elements indulging in ragging should be kept under watch by policemen in plainclothes. This will also help in tackling the problem of drug abuse near institutions.”

The reports with the state’s CID confirm that drug abuse among youths has increased not only in major towns but also in small towns like Kullu, Mandi, Rohru, Dharamsala and Nahan. “Drug smuggling can’t be tackled by the police alone. A new initiative is being planned to involve other departments to urge people of Kullu to take up alternative means of land cultivations in areas where cannabis is grown,” DGP G S Gill said.