Bhubaneswar, Nov 28: The Odisha government has received eight complaints related to ragging, sexual discrimination, and harassment from women students of various colleges and universities over the past two years, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj informed the State Assembly on Friday.

Responding to a written query from BJD MLA Arvind Mohapatra, the minister said the complaints came from six colleges and one university.

Two were filed by female students of Government Autonomous College, Rourkela, while others originated from F M Autonomous College (Balasore), G M University (Sambalpur), Abhimanyu Samanta Singhar Degree College (Jajpur), Athamalik College (Angul), Anchal College (Bargarh), and DAV Autonomous College, Titlagarh (Bolangir).

To prevent such incidents, the department has issued guidelines urging all state public universities and colleges to promote the use of Tele-Manas, the national mental health helpline (14416), which offers free, 24×7 tele-counselling support. Students can also access self-assessment tools through the Tele-Manas mobile app, he said.

Suraj further stated that instructions have been issued to implement the UGC (Redressal of Grievances of Students) Regulations, 2023, ensuring a fair and transparent grievance redressal system in higher education institutions.

These regulations mandate the formation of Student Grievance Redressal Committees (SGRCs) at the institutional level and the appointment of ombudspersons at the university level. The mechanism addresses issues such as admission irregularities, non-transparent evaluations, delays in scholarships and certificates, discrimination, harassment, and infrastructure gaps.

The Minister said each institution is required to resolve complaints within prescribed timelines, with safeguards to protect complainants from victimization.

The state government has also launched ‘Shaktishree’, a statewide initiative aimed at ensuring the safety, security, and empowerment of women in higher education institutions. Under this programme, every institution will set up a Shaktishree Empowerment Cell, a women-centric body coordinated by a female faculty member and a female student.