‘Gender-biased remarks’: Women at Raj co-op dept demand apology

Jaipur: A group of women employees at the Rajasthan cooperative department have raised objections about alleged gender-insensitive remarks at the workplace by a senior official. They are particularly peeved at what they termed as sarcastic comments from the official regarding the department’s policies pertaining to childcare and abortion leave.

Upset by the series of sarcastic remarks, a section of the department’s women have now formally written to the chief minister, demanding an apology from the senior official involved. The letter was written under the banner of the Association of Rajasthan Cooperative Subordinate Services (ARCSS) Monday.

Samit Sharma, the department’s secretary and registrar, allegedly suggested that women employees were shirking work by taking undue advantage of their leave options during an official video conference he chaired on May 6.

The group of women employees said they were subjected to a variety of snide remarks at the conference concerning their professionalism and attendance history. “Women probably show up for work just one day a week”, the letter quoted a department official as saying. “They must be busy managing their homes and families,” another is reported to have said.

What’s surprising is that this was not a one-off incident.

Similar gender-biased comments were allegedly expressed at another departmental meeting held in Ajmer last month. At that event, Sharma allegedly suggested renaming the department as the ‘pink office’ – a reference to the colour most associated with femininity.

“Numerous women employees have expressed serious objections to their statutory leave entitlements, maternal obligations and family circumstances being portrayed in an insensitive and derisive manner,” the letter said with reference to the May 6 video conference.

The letter, signed by ARCSS president Sumitra Chaudhary, added that provisions such as maternity leave, child care leave and abortion leave constitute sensitive statutory safeguards intrinsically linked to the physical, mental, familial and emotional circumstances of women.

“No woman would ever wish to encounter circumstances in her life that necessitate the utilisation of provisions such as abortion leave. Consequently, referencing such provisions in a casual, derisive or discouraging tone appears inappropriate when viewed through the lens of women’s dignity, respect for motherhood and the imperative for gender-sensitive administrative conduct,” the letter stated.

A department employee who was part of the Ajmer meeting last month spoke to TOI of her experiences.

“As some of us were introducing ourselves at the meeting, an official remarked that our department should be renamed the ‘pink office’ – an obvious reference to the fact that women outnumber men at our workplace”, the employee said.

“On the one hand, we were praised for achieving our targets, while on the other, we were spoken down to like this,” she added.

Other employees hurt by the comments pointed out that when work targets are set, they are assigned to the department as a whole, and not to “male or female employees”.

“If we are delivering on our work, then why should we have to face such remarks? This sets a precedent for other male employees too, and influences their attitude towards women,” another employee added.

When contacted by TOI, secretary Sharma denied the allegations altogether.

“This is completely false; nothing of such consequence occurred during the meeting on May 6. If any such remarks were indeed made, then evidence of that should be shared through the proper channels,” he said.

“All that I said at the meeting was that govt employees get ample holidays, including weekends, casual leave, govt holidays and other paid benefits. With that in mind, employees must report to work on time, and that is all I’m trying to get employees to do,” he added.

Sharma also mentioned that an Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system had been implemented in the department to ensure employees report on time.

“This attendance system is making the unions uneasy as it ensures strict discipline and continuous presence of officers and staff during duty hours,” said Sharma.