Bhubaneswar, 11 August (H.S.): The Odisha Higher Education Department has directed all higher education institutions across the state to strengthen and, where necessary, reconstitute their anti-ragging and student safety mechanisms within seven days ahead of the 2026–27 academic session.

The directive, issued by Joint Secretary Mousumi Nayak, has been communicated to registrars of all state public and private universities, including deemed universities, as well as principals of government, aided and unaided degree colleges, Sanskrit colleges and teacher education institutions under the department.

The department has instructed institutions to immediately review the existing composition and functioning of their mandatory safety bodies and complete the required restructuring within the stipulated seven-day period.

As part of the exercise, institutions have been asked to reconstitute and review their Anti-Ragging Committees, Anti-Ragging Squads and Anti-Ragging Monitoring Cells or equivalent independent monitoring mechanisms.

They have also been directed to strengthen and activate their Internal Committees constituted under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

The directive also places emphasis on student welfare and grievance redressal. Higher education institutions have been asked to strengthen their Student Grievance Redressal Committees, Student Service Centres and psychological counselling units.

Where applicable, institutions have also been instructed to ensure the appointment or activation of an Ombudsperson to address student grievances effectively.

The department said these mechanisms should remain functional and accessible so that students can report concerns and seek assistance without difficulty.

To ensure transparency and easy access to grievance redressal mechanisms, universities and colleges have been instructed to prominently display the names, designations, official email addresses and telephone numbers of committee chairpersons, nodal officers and members.

The details must be displayed on institutional notice boards as well as official websites, enabling students to contact the appropriate authorities whenever required.

The department has also put in place a monitoring mechanism to ensure that institutions comply with the directive. The Regional Directorates of Higher Education covering the Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern zones of Odisha will conduct physical inspections and audits of institutions.

The inspections will assess whether the mandated committees have been properly constituted or reconstituted and whether the safety and grievance redressal mechanisms are functional.

Institutions that fail to complete the exercise within the prescribed seven-day deadline or are unable to demonstrate effective and functional safety mechanisms may face administrative and disciplinary action.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda