HC seeks govt reply on steps to curb ragging

Jodhpur: The high court has issued notices to the state government and the medical department, seeking their response by January 29, regarding a petition for not taking sufficient measures to prevent ragging in medical colleges.The bench of Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Rajendra Prakash Soni issued notices while hearing a PIL by Banaram Panwar stating that despite anti-ragging committees in place in medical colleges, students are still being subjected to ragging.Petitioner’s counsel said that a compulsory break of 15-days is given to students of second and third year before the commencement of the new session. However, after returning from the break, senior students again subject the freshers to ragging. When the anti-ragging committee is informed, students are silenced by calling it a tradition.“They are subjected to physical torture and pushed into severe mental trauma. Some of them suffer depression and stress and even resort to extreme steps like suicide,” he argued.The petitioner stated that Medical Council of India had formulated regulations in 2009 to deal with incidents of ragging in colleges following directions of the Supreme Court. The provisions of punishment had also been laid out in these regulations, but this exercise turned out to be futile in absence of strict compliance.Stating that barely 1% cases of ragging are reported, he prayed to ensure compliance with the regulations drawn to prevent ragging and to form an anti-ragging committee as per the rules.