The university community is aware that ragging in institutions of higher education is a matter of deep concern around India, including to students’ families and law enforcement agencies. Among other regulations framed by various apex bodies, it is useful to be familiar with the recommendations of the Raghavan Committee, constituted by the Supreme Court of India (SLP No.24295/2006). The Supreme Court has made it mandatory for institutions to implement the following recommendations:

• The punishment to be meted out for ragging has to be exemplary and justifiably harsh to act as a deterrent against recurrence of such incidents.

• In every single incident of ragging where the victim or his parent/guardian or the head of the institution is not satisfied with the institutional arrangement for action, a First Information Report must be filed without exception by the institutional authorities with the local police authorities. Any failure on the part of the institutional authority or negligence or deliberate delay in lodging the FIR with the local police shall be construed to be an act of culpable negligence on the part of the authorities by the courts. All efforts should be made to ensure that cases involving ragging are taken up on priority basis.

In accordance with these rules and its own ethos, the university will not tolerate ragging of and among its students, in any form, at any place. Please note that the following activities and / or actions shall be construed as forms of ragging:

• Any conduct by any student or students whether by words spoken or written or by an act which has the effect of teasing, treating or handling with rudeness a fresher or any other students.

• Indulging in an activity which causes or is likely to cause annoyance, hardship, physical or psychological harm or to raise fear or apprehension thereof in any fresher or any other student.

• Asking any student to perform any act which such student will not consent to in ordinary course, and which has the effect of causing or generating a sense of shame or torment or embarrassment so as to adversely affect the physique or psyche on a fresher or any other student.

• Any act that prevents, disrupts or disturbs the regular academic activity of a student.

• Exploiting the services of a junior student for completing academic tasks assigned to an individual or a group of seniors.

• Any act of financial extortion or forceful expenditure put on a junior student by senior students.

• Any act of physical abuse including all variants of it: sexual abuse or assault of any kind, regardless of the victim or perpetrators’ gender; stripping, forced obscene and lewd acts; gestures; or any actions that cause bodily harm or any other danger to health or person.

• Any act or abuse by spoken words, emails, letters, blogs, or public insults as methods to derive pleasure from actively or passively participating in the discomfiture to others;

• Any act that affects the mental health and self-confidence of students.

The university has an anti-ragging Committee headed by senior faculty of the university. If the committee finds prima facie evidence of ragging based on any complaint it receives, the committee will take immediate action, up to and including the filing of an FIR with local police if deemed necessary.

Any student of Ahmedabad University found indulging in and / or abetting any form of ragging shall receive exemplary and justifiably harsh punishment, which may include the debarring of such a student from gaining admissions to any institutions of higher learning in India.

Depending on the nature and gravity of the offence as established by the Anti-Ragging Committee of the university, the possible punishments for those found guilty of ragging at the University level shall be any one or any combination of the following:

• Cancellation of admission

• Suspension from attending classes

• Withholding/withdrawing scholarship/fellowship and other benefits

• Debarring from appearing in any test/examination or other evaluation process

• Withholding results

• Debarring from representing the institution in any regional, national or international meet, tournament, youth festival, etc.

• Suspension/expulsion from hostel

• Rustication from the institution for a period as may be determined by appropriate authority

• Expulsion from the institution and consequent debarring from admission to any other institution of the University

• Fine of Rs 25,000/-

• Collective punishment: if the persons committing or abetting the crime of ragging are not identified, the institution shall resort to collective punishment as a deterrent to ensure community pressure on the potential raggers.

As a preventive measure, all existing students, freshers and their parents/guardians shall submit an undertaking in the prescribed form in the beginning of the academic session itself, failing which the concerned student will not be allowed to attend classes until he/she and his/her parents/guardians submit the said undertaking.

All students of Ahmedabad University are advised to abide by the instructions scrupulously to ensure a safe, healthy academic atmosphere and a ragging-free campus.

Anti-Ragging Committee

The School of Engineering and Applied Science has constituted the Anti-ragging Committee and the members of the committee are as follows: