New ragging rules,helpline from June 15

A 24-hour,toll-free,anti-ragging helpline and the notification of stringent anti-ragging rules.

By June 15 this year,a 24-hour,toll-free,anti-ragging helpline and the notification of stringent anti-ragging rules based on Supreme Court orders and Raghavan Committee recommendations will be in place,the University Grants Commission announced on Wednesday. The announcement comes a day after a fresh case of ragging was reported from a Noida college.

To be termed the UGC Regulations on Curbing the Menace of Ragging in Higher Educational Institutions,2009,the rules will apply to all universities under the Central or State Act,all deemed universities,all departments as well as modes of transport,both public and private.

The anti-ragging helpline,to be manned by educational consultants EdCIL,will be monitored by the UGC,its chairman Prof Sukhdeo Thorat said. Within 15 minutes of a complaint being registered on this helpline number,the head of that institution will be informed and he will be asked for an action taken report (ATR), Thorat said. However,the helpline will not convey the same immediately to the HRD Ministry,UGC,or the parents of the complainant as that could come in the way of ensuring immediate action.

The idea of a 24-hour helpline came up soon after the brutal ragging case of Aman Kachroo in a Himachal Pradesh medical college that resulted in his death. Kachroos father had proposed a helpline to check ragging.

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