In order to ensure fair and timely redress of sexual harassment complaints, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is all set to revamp its policy in this regard.
This assumes significance in wake of a statement made by HRD Minister Smriti Irani in the Lok Sabha, informing that maximum number of complaints of sexual harassment in educational institutions have been reported in Delhi.
JNU which has Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH), a central body which deals with complaints of this nature from across the university departments, already has a draft of the revised policy in place.
The draft prepared by the GSCASH has been sent to the Vice Chancellor and will be placed before the university’s academic council and executive council in its next meeting.
“We observed that the sexual harassment policy we have at JNU needed to be updated in accordance with the 2013 guidelines of the Supreme Court,” Geeta Kumari, a GSCASH member, told PTI .
The proposed draft has different clauses for “sexual harassment at workplace” and “sexual harassment in academic spheres”.
“It has also been proposed that we do away with the earlier clause that every inquiry committee constituted to hear the sexual harassment complaint will be headed by a female member only,” she said. — PTI
