" Th[e] problems in the college have [been] resolved. Thankyou very much for your sincere efforts. We don't nee[d] any further actions as such for now. Would like to again seek your help if get
troubled. Thankyou."
Via Email
[Case Ref. No. MP-1994]
What we do - Our Activities
& Achievements in a nutshell !
Part - II : Supporting & Empowering the Victims
and Their Families
We
receive communications from victims and from their family
members through our website, through email or over phone.
Some even complain through social media. We try our level
best to provide supports to the victims and their
families. Our Legal Desk and RTI Desk have been
crucial in this area. Usually, on receiving a report we contact the institution (normally the name of the victim is kept confidential) and simultaneously intimate the National (UGC) Anti-Ragging Helpline and various other stakeholders.
Depending on
gravity, some cases are intimated to the concerned state
government, state and/or the National Human Rights
Commission. We demand action from the college authorities
and often follow it up. Our website (www.No2Ragging.Org) contains helpful information for victims of ragging, inclusive of almost all the information that a victim of severe ragging would need to prevent, counter or escape ragging. The website also provides practical knowledge on legal aspects including, victim’s rights, States’ anti-ragging legislations and application filing process under RTI (Right to Information) Act. The website has counted more than a lakh hits/month in many months of the previous years.
SAVE’s members have also empowered the victims through active representation, legal counsel, and by filing RTI applications on behalf of the victims.
SAVE’s
active intervention has even filled in the gaps where the
Anti Ragging Helpline failed to render assistance to some
of the victims. In some cases, SAVE has collaborated with the friends and family members of 'victims', who had lost their lives in 'ragging', to arrange memorial events and to demand proper investigation into the cases [Read a news report by the Times of India]. The events were clubbed with signature campaigns seeking a comprehensive national anti ragging legislation. At present, only some states have individual state legislations against ragging. SAVE has been demanding a central act with adequate coverage of the preventive part.
A few
examples . . .
A different case in point is the harassment of a ragging victim from Tamil Nadu. SAVE’s members not only provided the victims with free legal and psychological counseling, but also wrote to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Chennai High Court who took suo moto cognizance of the matter and instructed the Police to submit its reply for the alleged conduct. As a result, the police registered an FIR against the perpetrators of ragging and stopped harassing the victims.
- “Juniors 'stripped, abused' at Thanjavur engineering college” : The Times of India [Click here for the News Report]
SAVE’s Legal Head
has represented the victim (Naveen Kujur) in the School of
Planning and Architecture (SPA) ragging matter and has
been successful in setting a precedent in the history of
anti ragging movement by obtaining a direction from a
magisterial court for registration of an FIR against
the Director, Dean and Registrar of School of
Planning and Architecture.
A letter by SAVE’s Legal Head also prompted the National Human Rights’ Commission to take cognizance of this matter.
- “Naveen
Kujur
ragging: Case against SPA for negligence and
tampering with evidence”
: The Indian Express
[Click
Here
to
Read the News Article]
A letter by SAVE’s Legal Head also prompted the National Human Rights’ Commission to take cognizance of this matter.
In some cases,
the victims who had been supported by SAVE, later turned
out to be an Anti-Ragging activists with SAVE and have
taken active roles in supporting other victims.
More on the line...
As a part of our compliance check campaign,
we have sent thousands of emails and also faxes to
the educational institutions, universities and deemed
universities to remind them of their anti-ragging duties. We
also recommend them about effective anti-ragging preventive
measures, for we believe “Prevention is better than Cure”.
We have also filed several RTI applications with state and central governments to inquire about the status of the anti ragging committees.
Example
SAVE has filed multiple RTIs with University Grants Commission (UGC) to inquire about actions taken against errant Institutions, and consequently the UGC has directed the Vice-Chancellor of the affiliating University to take a punitive action against the erring Institution (a Kanpur based institution).