Ragging in educational institutions has always been a cause of concern. In an anti-ragging measure, the state government of Haryana has issued directives warning to the heads of all educational institutions in the state that they will face six months’ imprisonment, besides being liable to pay a hefty fine, if they failed to prevent ragging on their campuses.
According to Haryana Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal, Haryana Prohibition of Ragging in Educational Institution Ordinance, 2012, which came into force on July 5, seeks to impose a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh in case of schools and colleges, and Rs 5 lakh in case of universities if they fail to comply with the orders. Also, the head of a school, college or university will be responsible for stopping and preventing ragging. All the students will be required to submit an affidavit at the time of admission to refrain from ragging. Any student, who will indulge into ragging, there would be mandatory suspension of a student for at least two semesters or an academic year besides other punishments. A criminal case will also be registered against the violator, she added. Apart from that, all the institutes have been asked to set-up one or more anti-ragging committees to oversee compliance of the ordinance.
