Bonala Kondal: August 2011

22 August 2011

Tackling ragging menace

Tackling Ragging Menace

The concept of ragging has grown out of its original intentions and has transformed into an indecent act

What started off as an informal and friendly way to break the ice between the senior and the junior students in colleges, has today become a societal menace.

UNCALLED FOR: Ragging has degenerated to such an extent that it contains elements of sadism and hostillity.

The concept of ragging was originally introduced in medical colleges decades ago, as a ritual to help freshers acquaint themselves with the new environment.

It was introduced as a tradition to help the newcomers shed their inhibitions, get over their homesickness and help them interact with the seniors.

It was designed to smoothen their entry into professional courses and pave way for a successful tenure in the colleges.

The tradition slowly passed to other colleges and over the years it degenerated to the form of present day ragging that contains the elements of sadism and hostility.

The concept of ragging has grown out of its original intentions and has transformed into an indecent act that at times grows in criminal proportionality and takes the shape of extortion, rape and murder.

Reasons for change

Psychologists say that the thought of vengeance plays a dominant role in the growth of its ugly face.
The idea is simple ‘We were ragged and so, we will strike back with more vengeance’.

Group behaviour, is another perception that is influencing or injecting hostility in the concept of ragging. In a group, people tend to become more aggressive and get carried away. In such situations, negative emotions give a sadistic twist to the mind.

How to overcome
To overcome the menace, senior students should take the initiative to organise welcome parties, plan freshers day and organise group activities to break the ice.

The college administrations can also involve the senior students to promote self-regulatory mechanisms to control the small percentage of offenders.

On the other hand, juniors should be more assertive and develop positive thinking. Positive thoughts can take you a long way and help you overcome any kind of stress.
Moreover, the law is always there to assist you.
So, be bold to say ‘no’ to ragging.

Ragging in criminal parlance is considered as an act, which causes insult, annoyance, fear, apprehension, threat, intimidation, outrage of modesty and injury.

It is punishable under the Indian Penal Code and the Andhra Pradesh Prohibition of Ragging Act, 1997.
eniors indulging in the act of ragging can be booked on a complaint filed by their Principal or a junior student and on the prima facie evidence and if proved, they are liable to the following punishments as per the Act:

Punishment

Teasing, embarrassing and humiliating -- 6 moths of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 1,000.

Assault and Criminal intimidation -- 1 year RI and Rs. 2,000 fine.

Wrongful restraint or confinement -- 2 years RI and Rs. 5,000 fine.

Grievous injury, abduction and rape -- 5 years RI and Rs. 10,000 fine.

Murder and abetting to suicide -- life to ten years and Rs. 50,000 fine.

The Act is applicable both inside and outside the educational institutions.

Abetting to ragging is also equally punishable.

The law empowers the head of the institution to initiate immediate action or suspend or dismiss a student, based on the prima facie evidence.

It also provides certain guidelines to the institutions to tackle the situation.

Every institution should conduct anti-ragging seminars to educate both the seniors and the juniors, provide adequate security to the juniors in the colleges and in the hostel areas, institute a committee to handle complaints, provide phone numbers of the committee members to the junior students and finally to tell to act immediately on receiving a complaint.

The head of the institution will be held liable for any delay in initiating action, upon receiving a complaint.

Nowhere to go

Following conviction, the student would not only be dismissed from the college but if the sentence exceeds 6 months, then he or she would not be able to secure admission in any of the colleges throughout India.

A convicted student will not be able to secure a job in the government sector or in any one of the Public Sector Units. Moreover, he or she will not be able to travel abroad to pursue studies or jobs, as police enquiry is mandatory for issuance of passports and visas.
-SUMIT BHATTACHARJEE

source:http://www.hindu.com/edu/2008/09/01/stories/2008090150330100.htm

10 August 2011

Companies look for leadership traits

Companies Look for Leadership Traits

Students not just falter only in communication skills but majority lack knowledge in their core subjects, say experts

Get started: Most of the HR managers test the candidates grip over area of specialisation, understanding of mathematics and statistics and project work. At 23, Sridhar a graduate in computer science engineering, from a reputed private engineering college, finds himself at a crossroads. He could not get into a company via the campus drives and neither has he had the inclination for higher studies. His academic track record is impressive, but he says that he faltered in the interviews due to lack of good communication skills.

A recent survey by NASSCOM says that only 25 per cent of the students churned out from the numerous engineering colleges are readily employable. While at the same time, China is scoring ahead, ticking at almost 85 per cent on the employability quotient.

It is not just that the students falter only in the arena of communication skills, majority of them lack knowledge in their core subjects, be it mechanical engineering or computer science engineering, says the Centre Head of Mahindra Satyam Ravi Eswarapu. “Companies look for certain skills, and the skill sets differ from company to company. Companies like Google and Yahoo may look for skills in core subject areas, whereas companies like Infosys, Wipro or for that matter Mahindra Satyam might look for graduates who are okay with the subjects but are good in communication skills. Whatever may be the matter, a majority of the students lack the requisite skill sets,” says he.

IT scenario

Despite the depressing atmosphere in Europe, US lowering its dependency on India and slashing its billing rates and competitors like China, Philippines and Mexico catching up fast – The IT industry is growing and will grow. Ravi points out that the domestic sector will play a major role in the coming years. He says that there is no dearth in quantity, but the quality is very low. “The percentage of entry level hiring is steady and will be growing, but at present many of the companies are switching on to low cost alternatives such as B.Sc. (computer science). The idea is, when the same work can be extracted from a B.Sc. graduate, why invest on hiring an engineer and spending the same amount of money on training,” he says.

It is estimated that IT and ITES companies in India spend millions on training for the entry level entrants.

The problem of skill sets is not very pertinent with tier-I institutes, it is more relevant and prevalent in tier II and III institutes.

Considering engineering entrants in the IT sector, skill sets can be divided into five categories- technology, process, project management, soft skills and academic excellence. When it comes to technology most of the IT companies come with the assumption that the candidates would have programming knowledge of C, C++, Java and HTML, Database Management System, Data Structures and Algorithms.

The companies also look for candidates who have the basic understanding of software engineering, business and system requirements management, software design, software testing, software quality management, software configuration management and software reverse engineering.

The companies feel that the candidates should have the knowledge of project management concepts.

Knowledge of English language, both in oral and written format, is a must. Further companies look for leadership traits, business etiquette, team player features, attitude, passion towards work and meeting etiquette.

Most of the HR managers test the candidates grip over area of specialisation, understanding of mathematics and statistics and project work.

“Project work plays and important role in the recruitment of a candidate and students should not take project work lightly. More than the project that one has done, the recruiters look for the comment given the assessor,” points out Ravi Eswarapu.

Principal of Pydah College of Engineering and Technology R.P. Das adds, “project work is an integral part of the engineering study. And it is disheartening to note that students do not pay any interest. It has already been found out that there are many hubs that sell project works to students for a handsome fee. Neither this practice nor the ‘cut and paste' culture are a healthy trend. And that is one reason why we have introduced the idea of doing projects within the campus and we give all support, including mentorship,” says Prof. Das.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-educationplus/article2337974.ece

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