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WB Guv CV Ananda Bose seeks Isro’s help to curb ragging in state universities
Raj Bhavan said Isro has offered support of advanced technology to prevent ragging in the university campuses in West Bengal
KOLKATA . West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose has asked the Indian Space Research Organization (Isro) to help identify appropriate technology to curb incidents of ragging in the state’s colleges and universities.
A Raj Bhavan statement late on Thursday evening said that Bose, the chancellor of state-run universities in West Bengal, contacted Isro chairman S Somanath to seek help to identify the appropriate technology to effectively contain and eliminate the menace of ragging in the university campuses.
The initiative comes two weeks after a first-year student of Jadavpur University, who was allegedly ragged and sexually harassed, reportedly jumped to death from the second-floor balcony.
“Close on the wheels of the success of the Chandrayaan 3 mission, Isro has offered support of advanced technology to prevent ragging in the university campuses in West Bengal,” said the statement.
Bose has also held discussions with authorities at the Hyderabad-based Advanced Data Processing Research Institute, an Isro laboratory. “They are trying to develop an appropriate technology solution using multiple sources such as video analytics, image matching, automatic target recognition and remote sensing,” Raj Bhavan said.
Raj Bhavan didn’t share any further details on the kind of technology that may be used.
Buddhadeb Sau, interim vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University said that artificial intelligence may be used to tighten security at the campus.
“Discussions were held (with the governor) on Thursday on how artificial intelligence could be used to tighten security in the campus. Apart from installing CCTV cameras, there are multiple other technologies which may be used,” Sau told reporters on Friday.
“We are exploring whether technology may be used to restrict the movement of outsiders in the university. Isro officials said it is possible. I am not sure about the technology. I am not sure as to how remote sensing may be used to trace and detect a face or an image. We will try to gather details from Isro,” said Sau.
Some students and professors have alleged that ragging and sexual harassment of freshers at the university hostels was rampant and former students often stayed in the hostel illegally. Police have registered a murder case based on a complaint lodged by the dead student’s father and arrested 13 present and former students.
Ananda Bose, who is the chancellor of JU, has held at least two meetings with university officials since last week. A review meeting was held at Raj Bhavan on Thursday.
“The governor has directed to immediately implement all kinds of security measures which are needed to curb ragging in the university,” said Sau.
After the student’s death, the university shifted first-year students to a separate hostel and installed CCTV cameras at strategic locations.
A four-member fact-finding committee was set up by the state government to look into the administrative lapses and infrastructure gaps in the university, An anti-ragging helpline was also set up. Governor Bose also set up a high-level committee headed by the former chief justice of Karnataka high court Subhro Kamal Mukherjee for suggestions to end ragging and violence at campuses of state universities.
