Anundo Ram Barooah hostel. Telegraph picture

July 24: First year higher secondary students of Cotton College will have an “exclusive hostel” from this academic session to prevent ragging.

Principal Nirada Devi told The Telegraph that seats at Anundo Ram Barooah hostel would be allotted only to the first year higher secondary or Class XI freshers for the current academic year.

She said the boarders would not face any kind of intervention or disturbance from seniors when they would join the hostel on August 1 under the new arrangement.

It will also create conducive academic atmosphere for the boarders.

Several students of Anundo Ram Barooah hostel were injured last year when the then principal Indra Kumar Bhattacharyya and a chowkidar of the hostel beat them up after they were found ragging new boarders.

“Since the 2004-05 academic session, Anundo Ram Barooah hostel had been accommodating students of both HS first and second year. From this year, we have decided to keep the hostel reserved only for the first year HS students. The second year student will be accommodated at Swahid Ranjit Borpujari hostel,” Devi said.

The principal said segregation of the higher secondary students into two hostels would not only ensure ragging-free atmosphere but also create conducive academic environment

“Higher secondary is a crucial academic period, especially for science students, and they need an atmosphere where they could concentrate on their studies. Segregation of the first and second year students will ensure such an atmosphere,” she said.

Anundo Ram Barooah hostel superintendent Pradip Sarmah said in recent years, many of the higher secondary second year boarders were found wasting study hours in addas and disturbing their juniors, sneaking out of the hostel and returning at inappropriate times, or playing music loudly. “Freshers who join the HS classes in Cotton College after their matric examination and start staying at the hostel far away from home suddenly face a different world. These students need special attention. Thus, the decision to keep the hostel reserved only for the first year students will help me monitor them better,” Sarmah said.

Anundo Ram Barooah hostel was established in 1913. Earlier known as the “Hindu third mess” or simply the “third mess”, it constitutes the erstwhile fourth and fifth blocks of the Hindu Boys’ Hostel. Many distinguished personalities, including RTI activist and peasant leader Akhil Gogoi, lived in this hostel.

Sarma said strict action would be taken if any senior student was found trying to sneak into the hostel campus with the intention to rag the freshers.