Shimla, August 17
The Vidhan Sabha today passed the Himachal Pradesh Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Ragging) Bill after much debate and rejected the amendment moved by the Congress along with the demand to refer the Bill to a select committee of the House.
However, Congress members expressed apprehensions that certain provisions of the Bill could be misused to pin down rivals by student unions of different hues in the highly politicised environment.
Party legislator Sukhwinder Singh moved an amendment to reduce the period of expulsion from three to two years on the plea that such harsh punishment could spoil academic careers of the students.
Senior leader Kaul Singh said the Bill was silent on reformative action which was most essential in dealing with students. He said he had no objection if the quantum of sentence was increased from three to seven years but the provision to debar a student from taking admission anywhere in the state for a period of three years was unduly harsh and uncalled for.
Sukhwinder Singh said many times incidents occurred unintentionally in which very bright students were dragged and such harsh provisions could mar their academic career. At a time when the government was encouraging criminals serving sentences in jails to pursue education, debarring students for such long period would be wrong, he added.
Rajesh Dharmani said provisions would drive a wedge between seniors and juniors and there would be little interaction between them. It was not desirable as seniors also served as mentors in professional colleges.
Chief Minister PKDhumal asserted that the objective was not to punish the students but deter them from indulging in obnoxious practice of ragging. The severity of problem could be judged from the fact that there had been 12 ragging deaths in a year, he added.
Education Minister ID Dhiman said apprehensions of the Congress were misplaced as a stringent law was the need of the hour.
The Bill will replace the ordinance issued in March to curb the inhuman practice in education institutions in the wake of Aman Kachroo murder case. The legislation provides for checking of ragging in educational institutions, suspension and expulsion of students found guilty and registration of an FIR by the institutional authorities and by parents. It also has provision of deterrent punishment which may extend up to three years of imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 50,000 or both.
