No place for ragging in institute, says NIT-Jamshedpur director

Jamshedpur: All necessary arrangements have been made for the 750 new students who have enrolled in BTech courses at NIT Jamshedpur so that they feel comfortable at the hostels, said institute director Goutam Sutradhar.Talking to TOI, Sutradhar said special attention is being given to ensure that the fresh batch of students, comprising 600 boys and 150 girls, do not face ragging in hostels. Such experiences can often leave negative impact on the students' mental health, he added.

The director, who was a faculty member at Jadavpur University in Kolkata, termed the recent incident of “ragging” at the university in which a student died as very unfortunate. Such incident tarnishes the reputation of a college or university. Necessary steps should be taken by the institute’s administration to avoid such incidents, he said, adding that those involved must be identified and punished. Sutradhar agreed that ragging can many a times ruin the career of a student.There are 13 hostels — seven for boys and six for girls — at NIT Jamshedpur, where students enrolment is on. A separate boys hostel has been allotted for the 600 students. Similar arrangements have been made for the fresh batch of girl students too. The idea to lodge the new batch of students separately is to ensure that seniors do not enter the area without permission. This will reduce the chances of ragging, Sutradhar added.Besides having CCTV cameras all over the campus, senior teachers have been instructed to make surprise visits at the hostel round the clock. At the girls hostel, too, two women faculty members have been instructed to keep a close eye on the hostel where fresh students will be put up. These teachers will be an added vigil over the area other than the appointed hostel wardens. He will increase his personal surprise visits at the hostels late night to ensure the safety of the students. An anti-ragging cell is functioning to help the students, he added.He said even as the director of NIT Manipur earlier, he had taken many steps to ensure that new students do not face any uncomfortable situation during their stay in hostels.