MHRD allocates Rs 5 cr to UGC for anti-ragging campaigns

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) today said it has allocated Rs five crore to UGC for undertaking publicity campaign against ragging in higher educational institutions in the country.
"The UGC has spent an amount of Rs 4.78 crore on various activities, including preparing and broadcasting of TVCs on anti-ragging by Doordarshan, making of films by NFDC, coverage through FM radio and printing and mailing of posters by DAVP and broadcasting on All India Radio by Prasar Bharati," the ministry said in a statement.
University Grants Commission (UGC) had also announced a competition for students, teachers and general public for wide publicity and promotion of anti-ragging measures, including poster, logo and icon designing, slogan and essay competition, it added.

This information, the ministry said, was provided by HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.
The statement also said that 390 cases of ragging, including death or maiming of students, were reported in different colleges of the country during the last year, including in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh which have reported higher number of cases.
UGC has sent letters dated 28 July 2015 and February 10, 2016, to the chief secretaries and the education secretaries of the states concerned where the ragging cases reported are high, the statement said.
It added that recently the definition of ragging had also been expanded.

In another statement the ministry also said the cooking cost under Mid-Day Meal scheme has been raised by seven per cent with effect from July 1 over and above the cooking cost for the year 2015-16 and the revised cooking cost is Rs 4.13 and Rs 6.18 per child per day for primary and upper primary stages, respectively.