Nasscom takes stock of sexual harassment

To issue guideline for redressal shortly

BANGALORE: Close on the heels of two incidents of suicides by female tech employees of leading IT companies in Bangalore, apex industry body Nasscom has decided to take stock of the situation and put in place a set of policy and practices for IT companies to follow in such cases. It will be available on the Nasscom website from November.

The debate on sexual harassment at workplaces has come to the fore after MJ Sonia, an employee of Nokia Siemens, committed suicide on September 26 and named two of her senior male colleagues in her suicide note as being responsible for the extreme step by her. The absence of proper redressal mechanisms for women employees to air their grievances is in question now.

A Supreme Court directive on 'Vishaka guidelines'  has made it mandatory for employers to follow sexual harassment prevention guidelines at workplace. The guidelines direct employers to set up complaints committees within the organisation through which women can address their complaints.

These committees must be headed by women, and at least half its members on board should be women. To prevent undue pressure from the organisation, the committee should include a third-party representative from a NGO or any other individual conversant with issues related to sexual harassment.

Taking stock of the situation after a suicide sequel by women employees, Nasscom President Som Mittal said, "I am well informed about the companies who follow Vishakha guidelines, but the question is how many such cases get reported?"

He further added, "We want to increase the number of women employed in the BPO/ IT sector. We will do anything to encourage them to join the service industry."

Nasscom has decided to take up the issue with all stakeholders so that womens' interests are safeguarded. "I will do anything to get the system in place. If the current system is not working, I will take it up myself and see what can be done. Nasscom will raise these issues at various forums and share best practices which can be adopted by the companies," he added.

According to Mittal, women form a major chunk in the service industry. About 50% of the workforce in BPO and 28% in the IT sectors are women.

Referring to the suicide of an employee in Bangalore, Poonam Kaul, head corporate communication at Nokia India said, "It was not a sexual harassment case. Nokia have an operational grievances committee and a Site Development Council at Chennai and Bangalore centres. The committees comprises 5-6 members who hold monthly meeting with the employees to discuss work related issues.

Infosys also has sexual harassment cell call ASHI (Anti Sexual Harassment Initiative). It was set up by Infosys and its group companies to provide an environment free of harassment.

On Monday, a 23-year-old female employee, based out of the Mysore Campus, allegedly hanged herself. The cause of her alleged suicide is yet to be ascertained.

According to Karthik Shekhar, founder of UNITES Professionals India, a redressal forum for IT/ITeS employees, said that an all-India survey conducted by an NGO stated that 80% of women respondents confirmed that they were victims of sexual harassment. Shekhar believes that grievance cell in MNC firms are non-functional.

Shekhar had a similar brush with his previous employer and thus started UNITES Professionals India in 2005 to help IT/ITES staffers air their grievances. The organisation presently boasts of 15,000 sign-ups.

Karthik has been sued by one of the tech firm for taking up the case of a women employee being regularly harassed by her male colleague, mocked the sexual harassment and grievances cell functionality. He added, "There is a defamation case against me. These companies have high regard for sexual harassment," he quipped.