Panel to keep tab on gender complaints

NEW DELHI: Delhi government has formed a three-member committee of senior IAS officers to examine the functioning of all the Internal Complaints Committees (ICCs) set up in various departments, corporations, and other related agencies.

Headed by Dilraj Kaur, who is posted as secretary-cum-commissioner in food and supplies department, the panel will report any shortcomings in the ICCs' constitution, their functioning and also suggest a system to ensure that repeated complaints against a particular officer are identified within a week.

Constituted on the directions of chief secretary Naresh Kumar, two other members of the committee include Neha Bansal, chief vigilance officer of Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, and Geetika Sharma, general manager, Delhi Tourism and Transportation Development Corporation.

Sources said the committee has been asked to submit its report within a fortnight.

The move comes weeks after a senior officer of the department of women and child development (WCD) was arrested on the charges of raping and impregnating a minor, and subsequent allegations of sexual harassment against him by at least three former colleagues. The officer had managed to escape any action, departmental or criminal, despite serious allegations.

Following WCD minister Atishi's instructions, various departments and bodies of Delhi government had started constituting an ICC to deal with the cases of sexual harassment.

Though the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, makes it mandatory for every employer to constitute an ICC at each office or branch with 10 or more employees, sources confirmed that the panels were non-existent in most Delhi government departments.

Officials said directions have also been issued to all departments, board, corporations, bodies and other organisations under Delhi government to widely propagate and display the details of 'She-Box' and the procedure for registering a sexual harassment complaint.

Developed by Union WCD ministry, She-Box is a portal on which women employees of government and private sector can submit their sexual harassment complaints against seniors/colleagues.