This year, 131 cases flood anti-ragging national helpline

In 2011, Anna University suspended a group of second and third year students for ragging first-year students. This year, a leading college on the city's outskirts had to take disciplinary action against 10 seniors for harassing a first-year student. Both cases were not brought to the notice of police, but academic authorities did initiate action against the offenders.

Today, the menace of ragging is being fought through a two-pronged approach. Government has created a reporting mechanism to ensure that educational institutions do not brush incidents under the carpet and secondly, serious cases are dealt with in a legal manner. The HRD ministry has received 67 complaints from first-year students in colleges across the country since the start of the academic year. The ministry has closed 16 cases. Inquiries are being conducted on the remaining, but only a few have been brought to the notice of the police.

In all, the figures suggest reporting of ragging on the national helpline has been on the rise since the mechanism was introduced in 2009. In most cases, educational authorities have acted on their own without involving the police.

"We show no leniency in dealing with the problem, but we do not take every issue to police because we will lose the confidence of students. The situation will become too complicated and the informant or complainant will be under too much pressure," said a professor, who declined to be named.

TN was one of the first states to make ragging a cognizable offence. The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Ragging Act 1997 was enacted after a medical student at Annamalai University, was murdered by his senior. But, over the years academicians have begun to feel that the offence needs to be decriminalized and discussed in the open so awareness is created about how it affects students rather than treat them like criminals.

D Purandeswari, minister of state for human resource development, voiced similar reservations about the Prohibition and Eradication of Ragging Bill 2011 when it was being debated in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday. The bill seeks to debar the convicted student from continuing studies in any school or college for three years.

"We cannot eradicate ragging by bringing in yet another legislation . We are seeing a decline in number of cases though more students are coming forward to report instances of ragging. The issue should be addressed holistically rather than as a law and order problem," she had said.

A professor, who declined to be named, also blamed students' ignorance as the cause of the menace. "Many cases of ragging occur because of the ignorance of a student. We are of the opinion that a momentary act of indiscretion should not be allowed to spoil the student's future."