West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, Ram Singh today said that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 will be fruitful if it is applied in letter and spirit.
Pointing out that many times few cases of sexual harassment have been let free due to family bonding, Singh said crimes of any kind should not be tolerated and should be dealt strictly.
Singh was speaking at an awareness programme on the Act held at the DRDA conference hall in Tura. He said that all government functionaries along with NGOs, nursing homes, corporations, homes, educational institutions, etc requires to provide dignified and proper working space for women by their employers as mentioned in the Act.
He further asked departments who have not formed the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) to form as soon as possible and to sensitize all the staff about the Act.
Meanwhile, Gamchi T R Marak, Former Member, Meghalaya Women Commission, highlighted the provisions of the guidelines of the handbook on the Act and said that the Act had been enacted to ensure safe and friendly working environment for women in their workplace. Stating that the Act ensures gender equality and right to work with human dignity, she said that the right of women to equality of status and opportunity should also be respected.
She also mentioned about the role of power dynamics in workplace and how it affects the people around. Informing about the functioning of the ICC, she said that the formation of the committee is mandatory and that half of its members should be represented by women which would redress the issues of sexual harassment of women in future.