Representative Image Medical colleges figure disproportionately in the list of complaints to the University Grants Commission’s ( UGC ) anti-ragging cell, but anti-ragging activists complain that the complaints don’t always lead to action. They cite the complaint filed by first year students of JLN Medical college in Raipur about being forced to tonsure their heads and being slapped and physically harassed in the hostel as an example. No action has yet been taken on the complaint.
Within weeks of the 2024 academic year starting on October 14, the anti-ragging cell has received over 55 complaints from medical colleges across India, which is almost 42% of the total number of complaints received from all colleges. In 2024, of the 800 complaints received by the cell so far, 222 were from medical colleges and 230 from engineering and polytechnic colleges. This is despite the fact that there are just over 700 medical colleges compared to more than 8,000 engineering and technology colleges.
In four cases from medical colleges, the victims took their own lives. Anti-ragging activists say that the UCG data doesn’t even capture all the incidents because you cannot register an anonymous complaint. “The reported case of severe ragging in RVRS Medical College in Bhilwara, Rajasthan, does not feature in the UGC list of complaints though the students tried to complain.
They insisted on the student identity being revealed and since the student was not willing to do so, the complaint .
