Shiksha Opinion: Safety wishlist for Indian college campuses

Shiksha Opinion: Safety wishlist for Indian college campuses

Every other day we come across news pieces on how unsafe our country has become. So much so that cases of abuse and assault are increasingly being reported from what are meant to be the temples of wisdom – our educational institutes.

The most sensational case happened in 2013 when a JNU student carrying a pistol, knife and axe, hacked his batchmate because she made fun of him. A case of ragging has also been reported in 2014, wherein, 20-22 students beat up a fresher in Delhi University’s Satyawati College.

However, incidents of abuse and violence are not just common at the college level but are being witnessed in schools as well. Recently it was brought to light that three visually challenged boys in Kakinada town of Andhra Pradesh were mercilessly beaten up with a stick by their visually impaired principal. In another incident, Mallikarjun Swamy who is the principal of a residential school in Anekal taluk of Bangalore district in Karnataka not only used to drink at the school premises but is alleged to have sexually assaulted as many as 30 girls in the hostel.

Towards helping to avoid recurrence of such unfortunate incidents as well as protect children at educational institutions, we have come up with a wishlist, which students as well as educational institutions should adopt.

• The college campuses should have more security arrangements. It is a known fact that when there are security personnel such as police vans, security guards etc. around then miscreants try to stay in their limits.
• Colleges should conduct free weekly self-defense classes on campus, which students can attend as per their discretion.
• The college/university should provide adequate transport to reach the campus. One University getting this aspect right is Delhi University’s North Campus where U-special buses run to and from the college campus to the metro station.
• Students should use apps like Google navigation if they feel that they are in an unknown area. This will help them know if the auto/bus/taxi is taking them on the right path or not.
• Students should also download some security apps on their mobile phones. After the December 16 gang rape in New Delhi, many new apps have been launched which send distress calls/messages to a few select numbers just in case any mishap happens with you. Some of these apps even emit a loud noise to scare your attacker and alert people around you. Apps to definitely download on your mobile devices are: Nirbhaya, VithU, 0Hour Women Safety App, SOS-Stay Safe, bSafe, SafetiPin, Woman Safety Shield Protection etc.
• Students should carry things such as pepper spray or any other tool which can be used for self-defense.

So, these are some of the things, which if adopted, can definitely help increase security or even prevent mishaps from occurring on campus, at least. And we agree with the wise saying – Prevention is better than cure!

Well, we cannot say that the educational institutes are not trying to be more secure because on a recent visit to North Campus of DU we found adequate security on campus with police vans positioned at every 200-300 meters.

However, keeping students safe is not the responsibility of the educational institutes alone. Students should also be vigilant and keep their eyes and ears open. And one thing we feel students should absolutely refrain from doing is to wear their headphones while moving on streets and stay alert of their surroundings.