Keralam to Launch Anti-Ragging Mobile App and 300 New Science Centres

New Initiatives

Keralam is set to launch 300 new centres across the state to build scientific temper among 15 lakh young people, alongside a mobile app that lets students report campus ragging anonymously. Chief Minister V D Satheesan will launch both projects on Wednesday at Government Women's College at 11.30 am by inaugurating the first sub-centre of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Scientific Temper. Higher Education Minister Roji M John will lead the event, with Transport Minister C P John also in attendance. The science awareness project, led by the Kerala State Higher Education Council, aims to spread humanism and inquiry-based thinking to the public. It includes handbooks, video reels, and an online course made with C-DIT.

Student Welfare App

Named the Siddharth Student Welfare App, the new platform gives students a secure way to report safety problems and ragging without sharing their identity. Users can even record audio complaints through the app to alert authorities. The app takes its name from J S Sidharthan, a 20-year-old veterinary student from Nedumangad who died by suicide in February 2024 after facing ragging at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Pookode, Wayanad. To back this up, the government is looking at a draft of the Siddharth Anti-Ragging Act to create a legal framework and set up a state anti-ragging commission. Officials will also release a Student Aspiration Survey to understand what students want from higher education.

Context

State governments often introduce specialized digital reporting tools and legal frameworks to tackle persistent campus safety issues like ragging. Promoting scientific temper through dedicated regional centres and online platforms is part of wider educational reforms aimed at fostering critical thinking among students.