Kolkata :West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Wednesday raised questions over Jadavpur University (JU) not having a separate hostel for first year students, which is nationally considered a model technique to stop the menace of ragging.
The Governor raised the question during a meeting convened on Wednesday at the Raj Bhavan over the mysterious death of a first year student of JU on August 10. The meeting was attended by several top officials attached to JU.
Swapnadip Kundu, a first year student of Bengali honours, died under mysterious circumstances after falling from the balcony of a students’ hostel on August 10. It is suspected that Swapnadip became a victim of ragging.
According to sources, when the JU representatives apprised the Governor about the latest decision of the university authorities to separate the hostel for the first year students, the Governor expressed his surprise as to why this system was not followed so far despite a clear guideline on this count from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
At the meeting, the sources said, the JU representatives pointed out the technical difficulties in managing the administrative affairs in the absence of a full-time VC and also one of the two posts of pro-VCs remaining vacant for quite some time.
The Governor reportedly assured the JU representatives present at the meeting of taking quick action in this matter.
Academicians feel that separating the hostel for the first year students is the best way to stop the menace of ragging.
“If one group of freshers is kept immune from ragging by their seniors, they will also not develop the tendency of doing the same with their juniors. Thus, the ragging chain will be broken. Separate hostels for first year students has been a successful model adopted by several reputed universities nationally,” a city-based academician pointed out.
