NEW DELHI: HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank' on Monday said outsiders were behind the alleged molestation of students at an all-women college in Delhi and the administration of the institute has been told to take action.
Replying to a question of Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi in Lok Sabha, Pokhriyal said the government was aware of the incident at Gargi College, a reputed institute in the national capital.
"Those who were involved in the incident were outsiders and not students. It was not a good incident. The college administration has been told to take action in the incident," he said during Question Hour.
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Gogoi said sexual harassment and bullying often takes place in many higher education institutions and action should be taken in such incidents.
He also said a group of men allegedly molested the students after gatecrashing Gargi College during a festival.
Reports said the incident came to light when some of the students took to Instagram to narrate their unpleasant experiences during the fest at the college on February 6 and alleged that security personnel did nothing to control the unruly groups.
Replying to another question, the Union Minister said there has been a decreasing trend in dropout rate in higher education institutions like IITs and IIMs over the last five years.
"This has been achieved by taking a number of corrective measures to minimise the dropout which include the appointment of advisor to monitor the academic progress of students and peer-assisted learning," Pokhriyal said.