The UGC and Police to take strict action against ragging
View(s):The University Grants Commission (UGC) with the help of the Police will implement a programme to prevent ragging in universities, Higher Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana said.
The Minister said that the decision was taken due to the intense ragging in universities and the concern of parents and students.
He said as many as 2,000 have left the campus due to ragging last year, according to police reports. “The students cannot be harassed. They should be able to go to campus freely”, Minister Gunawardana said.
He said President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was of the view that ragging should be stopped.
Minister Gunawardena added, the University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof Sampath Amaratunga and the Vice Chancellors of the universities will be summoned for a meeting next week to discuss measures to prevent
ragging. Students and parents will be summoned for the meeting as well.
“The President said the Anti-ragging Act will be strictly implemented. We see there is no co-ordination between the university administration and the security forces and therefore ragging has increased”, the minister said.
He said the Police are not implementing the Anti-ragging Act correctly and measures will be taken to implement it in a strong manner. -DW