In the aftermath of the suicide by a B.Arch student, Rishiteshwari, and the protests that rocked the State, damaging the reputation of Acharya Nagarjuna University (ANU) in Guntur, the varsity management has put in a series of measures to curb ragging on the campus.
Taking a serious note of the student’s death, the government had directed all universities to install CCTVs, bio-metric attendance systems, appoint/activate Anti-Ragging Committees (ARCs) and wardens on all campuses by August 31.
But, many universities have failed to meet the deadline.
At ANU, the authorities have installed Closed Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) on the campus, revamped anti-ragging committees and temporarily appointed assistant professors as wardens.
“We installed 60 CCTVs on the campus, and a control unit has been opened in the respective chambers of the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and the Rector. The management will soon introduce bio-metric attendance system and complete the process of issuing ID Cards to all students, teaching and non-teaching staff,” ANU Registrar Raja Sekhar Patteti said. At Sri Venkateswara University (SVU), Tirupati, the administration has constituted a technical committee comprising experts from engineering and information technology departments to identify places for installation of CCTV cameras and to introduce bio-metric attendance systems, said Registrar M. Devarajulu.
The university officials had suspended seven MCA students following a ragging incident on the campus recently.
The existing anti-ragging committees in the university have been strengthened and principals and wardens have been told to keep a tab on hostels, classrooms, canteen and other places on the campus, said the Registrar.
The management of Sri Krishnadevaraya University (SKU), at Anantapur, officials constituted ARCs and appointed deputy wardens, but could not install CCTV cameras and bio-metric attendance systems on the campus.
SKU administration appointed deputy wardens in Arts, Science, Engineering college hostels. However, the cameras will be fixed shortly. The management is planning to appoint full-fledged wardens shortly, said the authorities.
Officials of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT) IIIT Nuzvid in Krishna district are making efforts to install CCTV cameras at 22 vantage points on the campus.
In-charge Vice-Chancellor P. Vijaya Prakash said a high power committee is studying whether thumb impression, iris camera photo or smart card system should be followed on the campus.
“We are planning to link the disbursement of scholarships to attendance in class rooms. The committee has invited a few companies to submit quotations and a final decision will be taken in a week,” said Prof. Vijaya Prakash.
