The National Democratic Alliance government will soon form a group of ministers to look into legal provisions against sexual harassment at the workplace, the Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday. The group, to be headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, is likely to consist of Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Maneka Gandhi and Nitin Gadkari, among others, unidentified officials told the newspaper.
The move comes after dozens of women used social media to accuse personalities from cinema, art and media of sexual harassment and misconduct in the past. Journalist-turned-politician MJ Akbar, one of those accused of sexual harassment, on Wednesday resigned from his post as the minister of state for external affairs. Akbar, accused by 17 women, has rejected all allegations against him.
The group of ministers will look into the Vishakha Guidelines that listed procedures in cases of sexual harassment at the workplace, and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, which replaced them.
The panel will probe if the current safeguards against sexual harassment are adequate or need to be further strengthened to act as a deterrent, after which it will submit a report within three months.
“The group of ministers, therefore, will go into strengthening the existing laws so that justice can be availed without having to bring the matter to court all the time,” an unidentified senior minister told The Hindu.
The group of ministers will be notified soon, reported PTI, quoting unidentified officials.
Union minister Maneka Gandhi last week said that cases of sexual harassment at work must be “dealt with a policy of zero tolerance”. She said that the Ministry of Women and Child Development will set up a committee to look into matters arising from the #MeToo campaign. The committee will comprise senior members from the judiciary and the legal fraternity, and will look into the framework in place to handle complaints of harassment at work, she had said. The committee will also look at some of the complaints, if necessary, and will advise the ministry on how to strengthen the legal framework dealing with them, she said.
However, women activists have pointed out that Gandhi’s panel might not be enough and that it was more important to strengthen existing structures and back existing laws, and make sure employers are compliant with the law.
Ammu Joseph, a member of the Network of Women in Media, India, also pointed out the lack of follow through when it comes to Gandhi’s announcements. “She has made the right gestures and noises since 2012, before she was a minister,” Joseph told Scroll.in. “The question is how effective are these schemes down the line? It is one thing to make announcements, but do you put it in place or fund it?”
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