CHENNAI: Prof Raj Kachroo is a man on a mission to eliminate ragging from the country. The Professor of Environment Management is still struggling to cope up with the loss of his son, Aman Satya Kachroo, who was killed in a ragging incident in a Himachal Pradesh medical college a few months ago.
His dedication to the mission has evoked widespread national attention.``I have a guilty feeling because I could not help my child when he was suffering. It will haunt me forever,’’ Prof Raj, who was in the capital to attend a conference on the ‘Elimination of Ragging in Colleges,’ told The New Indian Express on Thursday.
The professor revealed that despite the trauma, he was back at the computer 12 hours after the death of his son to devise methods for curbing the menace and to save the lives of youngster from undergoing a similar fate.
The professor believeds that raging is a manifestation of some psychological disorder and only a handful will indulge in it. ``They should be imparted education on the values of life. Some counselling will also help.
Prof Raj Kachroo chose to explore the possibilities of the modern communication technology to curb the ragging. The professor, who is also a programmer, created the website ``Amanmovement.org’’. He is also keen on creating a complete database of all the colleges in the country.
The website offers a helpline number 18001805522 and any student can call this number and once the call is made, the principal of the college would be informed and then the onus would be on them to act on the complaint.
Prof Kachroo said that any student could access the website and tell them their college “is free from ragging/not free from it. And after analysing the feedback from the students, the principals of the institution would be informed and it was for them to act on it’’.
The professor believes that colleges should introduce spiritual teaching so that the youngsters would not indulge in such acts. `` Today’s youth have a conflict in their mind. In our generation, we were trained to be faithful to whatever religion we were following. But today’s youth have this conflict in their minds because of the materialistic views. This will manifest as ragging or even in worse forms.’’
He asserted that punishment was not the answer to prevent the evils of ragging but prevention was the strategy to eliminate it.