More than a month after the launch of the anti-ragging helpline by the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry, the call centre for the helpline -- run by a Dalmia group company, Caretel Infotech -- says there are more inquiries than complaints.
This June, the MHRD had launched the helpline wherein students, parents and guardians can file their complaint by phone using a toll-free number. The company has a 20-seater inbound centre in Delhi that gets around 1,500-2,000 inquiry calls everyday though the actual number of complaints registered is only one or two per day.
Though the professionals manning it respond to calls in English, Hindi and a selected regional language with a call recording system, Caretel plans to make it multilingual. “In fact, we plan to add 10-15 more people for the centre to take the inquiry calls. However, we feel that the helpline needs more publicity for more complaints as we expect the number of calls to increase in the admission season,” said Amit Roy, CEO, Caretel.
These awareness calls are to understand how the helpline works, how to register a complaint and what will happen once a complaint is lodged. Moreover, the BPO that has around 4,500 employees in 25 cities in the country, is expanding in London by opening a 100-seater centre in collaboration with a company there.
The helpline was launched under the directions of the Supreme Court, which in its judgment dated May 8, 2008, had directed that “at the national level, the University Grants Commission (UGC) should fund a toll-free helpline which could be accessed by students in distress owing to ragging related incidents”.
When a complaint is registered, the caller will be given a unique number and within fifteen minutes, the complaint will automatically be sent to the authorities concerned. The identity of the caller will be protected and the unique number can be used as a reference for all future communication and feedback.
