Case registered in parliament ragging case

Delhi: Most of us identify ragging incidences only with students and educational institutes. But an unfolding case has revealed that people with responsibility to run the country also take pleasure in tormenting newly joined colleagues.

Narayan Murthy, non-executive Chairman and Chief Mentor of Infosys, yesterday formally registered a complaint of ragging of his protégé, Nandan Nilekani by other cabinet ministers. Nandan Nilekani had recently moved to Delhi to head an ambitious government program to equip every Indian with a biometric Unique Identification Card.

The five page statement submitted by Narayan Murthy to President Pratibha Patil detailed Nandan’s ordeal since June 2009.

Second day in the job, a group of drunk senior cabinet ministers arrived at Nandan’s home on Tuglak Road in wee hours of morning. He was forcefully taken to the Parliament House and asked to measure periphery of the building with a smartcard. Nandan was set free only when the guards arrived on morning shift. A week later when Nandan was on his way to Parliament cafeteria, some seniors forced him to collect Swiss Bank account numbers from the female colleagues. But the biggest embarrassment to Nandan was when he was invited for a ‘shorts only’ party in what turned out to be the reception of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Narayan Murthy has requested the President to take strict action against the offenders. When asked by the reporters about whereabouts of Nandan, Mr. Murthy said that he is recuperating in Infy’s Mysore campus. He also added that Nandan had been complaining of ragging since the day he joined the parliament.

"He had been complaining of ragging ever since he joined the parliament. When I asked to talk to the PM or President, he said it would hurt his ability to get bills sanctioned if I complained. He said all new cabinet ministers depend on the seniors for getting bills passed. So I kept quiet. This should not happen to any other cabinet minister," said Narayan Murthy.