Bengal's anti-ragging helpline that came into being on Tuesday evening got around 30 calls in the first 24 hours from across the state and most of them were from anxious parents who wanted to check whether the number worked.
Even police, who are managing the desk, are surprised that not a single one was a prank call.
"Goes to show how serious the problem of ragging is and how important this line could be," a senior officer at Lalbazar said.
An officer who spoke late on Wednesday evening said "four-five" calls were about ragging in districts. Officers at Lalbazar took down the details and passed them on to the police in the districts concerned.
The 24X7 toll-free helpline — 1800 345 5678 — was launched by chief minister Mamata Banerjee around two weeks after the death of a first-year Jadavpur University student, who had allegedly been ragged and thrown from a second-floor balcony of JU Main Hostel.
Officers at Lalbazar said they had not yet received any "complaint call" from the Kolkata police area.
"The messages of four or five calls were passed on to the respective districts for action. The majority of the callers were guardians, who said they wanted to verify whether the helpline was functional," a senior officer said.
The police refused to divulge details about the "actionable" calls saying they wanted to maintain confidentiality.
"Some of the guardians who called said their children were studying in such and such educational institute and they wanted to keep the helpline number handy," another officer at the city police headquarters said.
"What is significant is that we received not a single prank or mischief call. Most helplines get a lot of such calls in the initial days. But this was different. All those who called were genuine callers."
The helpline has been set up at the Lalbazar Control Room, but anyone from anywhere can call the number to report an incident of ragging in any place in the state.
Kolkata police commissioner Vineet Goyal had said at a programme where the helpline was launched on Tuesday that after receiving a call, cops would reach the place of ragging in no time.
Details of the complaints that required the intervention of the police in districts were conveyed to the respective district police chiefs or their deputies. For an incident of ragging in a police commissionerate area, the details will be conveyed to an officer of equivalent rank.
"We are maintaining a log of the calls we are receiving," said an officer at Lalbazar.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Tuesday that details of the caller would be kept confidential and that the caller did not need to be concerned about being outed for protesting harassment.
"Protest against ragging. We are there to support you," the chief minister had said at a Durga Puja coordination meeting at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.
Rs 37.05 lakh for CCTV cameras on JU campus
A company that was hired by Jadavpur University to carry out a survey for the installation of CCTV cameras at the gates of the main hostel and the two campuses has informed the authorities that the project would cost around Rs 37.05 lakh.
A JU official said Webel Technology Limited, which conducted the survey, informed them about the project cost on Wednesday.
It has been decided that CCTV cameras will be installed at the five gates of the Jadavpur campus and four gates of the Salt Lake campus of JU, and at the gates of JU Main Hostel.
“The university will write to the education department for funds so the cameras can be installed,” he said.
The university had on August 17 decided to install CCTV cameras at the entry-exit points of the main hostel and the campuses, seven days after the death of a first-year student who had allegedly been ragged at the main hostel.
