National Commission for Women Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar has stressed the need for effective implementation of the POSH Act, calling for greater awareness in the private sector and ensuring that workplace committees function effectively to provide women a safe environment to report sexual harassment.In an interview with PTI, Rahatkar described the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (POSH Act) as a comprehensive law but said its implementation on the ground needed to be strengthened.
“The POSH Act is a very comprehensive law. I would say it is like an umbrella over women’s heads, protecting them from sexual harassment. However, what is required now is effective implementation of the law on the ground and people must be made aware of the law,” she said.
She emphasised that organisations must constitute Internal Committees as mandated under the law and ensure that they function effectively. The committees must create an environment where women facing harassment can approach them with confidence, without fear or anxiety, and file complaints, she said.
“The Internal Committee must then examine the complaint in a time-bound manner, without any bias or prejudice, and arrive at a decision after assessing the facts,” Rahatkar said. Pointing to gaps in implementation, she said Internal Committees had been constituted in almost all government-level organisations, but greater efforts were needed to reach the private sector.
“Even today, there is not enough awareness about this law in the private sector. While committees are certainly being constituted, many organisations are not fully aware of how these committees are supposed to function and discharge their responsibilities,” she said.
Rahatkar said the commission had undertaken extensive work on the POSH Act over the past nearly two years, organising meetings and training programmes at different levels to spread awareness about its provisions.
The commission has reached out to colleges, schools, private organisations and government institutions to discuss the law and the need for its effective implementation, she said.
The commission also reviewed the law this year and conducted regional consultations at eight locations across the country. A national-level consultation was subsequently organised in Delhi, bringing together members of various POSH committees on a common platform, she said. It has also involved state women’s commissions in the initiative, organising training programmes for their members and coordinating with them to ensure effective implementation of the law in their respective states.
“The National Commission for Women, along with all the State Women’s Commissions associated with us, is working extensively on POSH. All of us are making concerted efforts to work in the same direction,” she said. Highlighting the role of the SHe-Box portal, Rahatkar said the Ministry of Women and Child Development had launched the platform to ensure that every organisation employing 10 or more people constitutes an Internal Committee.
Under the initiative, organisations are required to upload details of their establishment, Internal Committee, complaints received and pending cases on the portal, she said. “I believe awareness about this law has improved considerably, but we still need to continue working on this for some more time,” Rahatkar said, adding that the NCW was committed to ensuring effective implementation of the legislation.
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