Only 6% Maharashtra organisations have sexual harassment cells

Even as wokplace crimes against women are increasing, most organisations in the state have not set up sexual harassment redressal committees mandated by the Supreme Court in its Vishakha judgment.

Only 2,608 of the 45,000 establishments in Maharashtra — a mere 5.8 per cent— have set up as per the Vishakha guildelines. This was revealed to dna by Arvind Kumar, secretary of the state labour department, on Friday.

“These figures are shocking. There has to be greater compliance of the apex court’s guidelines,” said Nirmala Samant-Prabhavalkar, a member of the National Women’s Commission.

The issue has assumed significance in the wake of allegations of sexual assault against Tehelka founder-editor Tarun Tejpal by a woman journalist. “Ever since the guidelines were laid down, we have been conducting inspections in various organisations. However, there is hardly any compliance with the guidelines. Even many of these committees are not functional,” Kumar said.

“We have been sending circulars and asking organisations to send data, but nobody complies.
Apart from contempt of court, the organisations cannot be booked for anything. So, there is no fear of law. And we don’t have the power to punish or penalise them,” added Kumar.

In 1997, the Supreme Court laid down Vishakha guidelines to deal with sexual harassment of women at workplaces.

“Even though a few government organisations have set up committees, the scene in private companies is very unclear. Either there is no committee or they are defunct,” said Samant-Prabhavalkar, adding that a committee of this kind is important as women usually fear approaching the police.

“Even if these guidelines are in place in companies, many employees are not even aware of this. Employees are always at sea when they experience discomfort due to their colleagues. There should be a full-fledged team to take care of the welfare of women employees,” added Prabhavalkar.

“If the management is involved, company never takes the side of the victim. She ends up losing her job. So a committee of this kind, which will have members from outside the establishment, will only ensure that the whole case is treated in an unbiased manner,” said Sandhya Gokhale, a representative of Forum Against Oppression of Women.

“It is the economic security and fear of loss of job that prevents women from filing complaints with the police. Hopefully, if committees are formed in organisations, we will be in the loop. We want women to take a cue from the Tejpal incident and come forward if they are being exploited at their places of work,” Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police (crime), said.

Vishakha guidelines
It is the duty of the employer or other responsible persons in the workplace or institution to prevent sexual harassment and provide mechanisms for the resolution of complaints. All workplaces should have an appropriate complaints mechanism with a complaints committee, special counsellor or other support services.

A woman must head the complaints committee and no less than half its members should be women. The committee should include an NGO/individual familiar with the issue of sexual harassment.