SC on ragging: Booze, demanding parents to blame

Expressing shock over rampant alcoholism on educational campuses, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it reflected the degradation of the value system, Satya Prakash reports.

Expressing shock over rampant alcoholism on educational campuses, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it reflected the degradation of the value system.

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“It is more than ragging,” the court said on seeing the report that established a link between ragging and alcoholism in Amann Kachroo’s death at a medical college in Himachal Pradesh.

“Regular and rampant alcoholism on college campuses… the entire value system has gone,” a bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat said while hearing a PIL to devise institutional mechanism to deal with ragging.

Attributing the rising incidents of ragging to the “loss of childhood” due to parents’ unrealistic expectations, the court said the psychological factors behind ragging must be understood and addressed. “Is it because of total parental control or total absence of guidance to children?” the bench said, adding, “during the impressionable age, children need counseling”.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium, who is assisting the court as amicus curiae said the court-appointed committee, too, has highlighted the need to address the psychological aspects of the problem.

“There is a dire need to examine the psychological aspects of ragging, including its impact on young students and rational behind seniors urge to rag and torment their juniors,” said Subramaniam.

However, senior counsel Harish Salve, on behalf of the Medical Council of India, said derecognising a medical college for ragging could prove counter productive and jeopardise the careers of students. The bench reserved its verdict on the issue.