10 pc ragging complaints over caste-based harassment in Maharashtra

While it may not be as bad as UP 1069 or Bengal 718 10year data shows harassment by upper caste students is prevalent in higher education institutions of Maharashtra with medicine being the worstAccording to the date provided by UGC to midday since 2009 as many as 328 complaints on the helpline have come from Maharashtra making it the state with the fifth highest number of recorded ragging casesRagging is illegal in India and violators are punishable under antiragging regulations But as per UGCs data this hasnt stopped the prevalence of these incidents across the country The national antiragging hotline 18001805522 records 84 cases of ragging every day with four of those cases coming from Maharashtra Experts say the gradual rise in awareness among students is causing the increase in the number of complaints being registered through the helplineAlso ReadAntiragging committees in Mumbai colleges to be upgradedRise because of awarenessIn 2009 only nine cases of ragging were reported which went up to 53 in 2018 See box Similarly data across the country shows a 200 per cent rise in the number of recorded cases In 2009 345 cases were recorded in India which has now surged to 1016Rajendra Kachroo who runs the Aman Satya Kachroo Trust and is incharge of the national antiragging helpline said With rising awareness among students we have seen a steady climb in the number of calls on the helpline This doesnt mean harassment or ragging has increased there is a growing alertness among studentsAccording to the data castebased harassment is most common among medical college students REPRESENTATION PICGetty ImagesThe number of cases reported from Maharashtra since 2009 328 have taken the state to the fifth position nationwide Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 1069 cases followed by West Bengal at 718 Madhya Pradesh at 648 and Tamil Nadu at 331Also ReadHow to correctly handle ragging Akola college shows the wayState of raggingIn 2018 Maharashtra alone recorded 44 cases of ragging The Government Medical College in Miraj Sangli has recorded the highest number with eight such cases followed by the Government Medical College in Nagpur with five casesFrom Mumbai and Navi Mumbai ragging cases have been recorded at six medical colleges The highest number has been recorded at Topiwala National medical college Nair and Dr D Y Patil Medical College with three each The list also includes the Seth G S medical college KEM Lokmanya Tilak medical college Mahatma Gandhi missions medical college and MGM medical college with one case eachCastebased casesAround 10 per cent of the total cases recorded since 2009 are regarding castebased harassment Kachroo added Castebased harassment comprises around 10 per cent of the cases we receive It is most common among medical college students which is extremely surprisingAccording to the data among every 100 students pursuing medicine in the countrys 450 medical colleges 37 are subjected to ragging Comparatively among other colleges including engineering the percentage of ragging recorded in 2018 was 18 per centSince 2009 a total of 738 cases of ragging have been recorded from the 450 medical colleges whereas 3965 cases of ragging have been recorded from 47000 other collegesMed colleges biggest issueExplaining the numbers Kachroo said Medical colleges have the biggest problem when it comes to ragging There has been an over 70 per cent rise in the number of such cases in medical colleges The seriousness of the issue can be understood only when one compares the ratio of the number of students to the cases which is the highest among medical collegesHowever Dr Ravikant Singh president of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors MARD in 2007 blamed the problem on the system for creating too much pressure on medical students He feels this causes castebased discrimination Most of the medical colleges reel under an overflowing number of patients and it becomes extremely tough for medical students They suffer under too much pressure and try to vent out their frustration on their juniors This is still unacceptable he said328No of ragging cases recorded in Maharashtra since 200984No of ragging cases reported daily all over the countryAlso ReadYoungsters should know bullying is a crimeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates