Child rights panel pulls up JU: Why no CCTVs on campus? | Kolkata News
2 min readApex child rights body NCPCR has sought an explanation from Jadavpur University as to why there were no CCTV cameras installed in the hostel premises where a first-year student died after alleged ragging and sexual harassment.
A 17-year-old student died after falling from a second-floor balcony of a hostel last week. His family has alleged he was a victim of ragging.
Terming the lack of CCTV cameras in the hostel premises a violation of UGC guidelines on the safety of students in higher educational institutions, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has sought an explanation from the university.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the incident, the NCPCR asked for an action taken report from the university within seven days.
The NCPCR also wrote to Kolkata Police, seeking an inquiry into the matter.
Meanwhile, the West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) on Thursday claimed that the Jadavpur University authorities were trying to cover up their incompetence in connection with the alleged ragging and sexual harassment of a student leading to his death.
The WBCPCR said in a statement that it has sent a show-cause notice to the varsity over the 17-year-old first-year undergraduate student’s death, and was “extremely unhappy” with the reply it got.
“The Commission feels that this response reflects the gross insincerity of the University administration where they have tried to shrug off all responsibilities of the said incident instead of accepting and acknowledging their failure and failing to chart out a road map towards systemic reforms in order to eradicate ragging and other malpractices from the University campus,” the statement read.
“The Commission is extremely unhappy with the reply sent by the Registrar of Jadavpur University to the show-cause notice sent by the Commission regarding the recent incident of the death of the minor student in the main boys’ hostel of the University,” it said.
Most Read
Gadar 2 box office collection day 6: Sunny Deol film becomes the second-highest grosser of the year, crosses The Kerala Story’s lifetime haul in less than a week
Jailer box office collection Day 7: Rajinikanth film earns Rs 450 crore worldwide in a week, fastest film in history to cross Rs 150 crore in Tamil Nadu
The WBCPCR is “deeply disappointed” in the hatchet job that the University authorities seem to be doing in order to cover up their incompetence and lack of intent in resolving the problem, the statement said.
The Commission is sending another letter to the University asking the authorities once again why steps should not be initiated against them for acting in violation of UGC regulations and the Supreme Court judgment on the issue.
The deceased was a resident of Bagula in Nadia district and an undergraduate student of Bengali (Honours). He fell from the second-floor balcony of the main hostel around 11.45 pm on August 9 and died while undergoing treatment at a hospital the next day.