CHENNAI: The Madras HC has said all the government departments and institutions shall show seriousness and sensitivity to create a safe environment where women can work without any fear.
The instruction was given by Justice RN Manjula when petitions relating to implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, came up for reporting compliance of the directions issued by the court.
The judge was referring to the submissions made by State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah about the action taken against top police officers, including a DGP and a DIG, on sexual harassment complaints.
“Though the swift actions taken in a few of the above incidents involving the intervention of the police department is appreciable, the same kind of seriousness and sensitivity has to be shown by all the other departments and the institutions covered under the POSH Act, 2013, in order to enable the woman employees to perform their duties in their workplaces without fear or threat,” Justice Manjula said.
Referring to budgetary allocations to fulfil the mandates of the POSH Act, the judge said it appears the general budget allocations received by the states from the central government for the (current) financial year is just ` 5.11 lakh, which is “abysmally low”.
She asked the state government to submit a report as to how the rest of the funds are generated in order to ensure sufficiency for implementing the directions and the mandates of the Act.