The Bill seeking to amend the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 and the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act 1956 to pave the way for adoption by widows and single women will be passed in the coming session of Parliament, said Jayanthi Natarajan, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice. The Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2010, was introduced in Rajya Sabha on April, 22, 2010 and referred to the standing committee for eliciting public opinion on the issue.
Talking to reporters after holding discussions with officials of the State government and various Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs), Ms. Natarajan said there was unanimous opinion in favour of the Bill. The committee had already visited Mumbai and Bangalore.
Ms. Natarajan said the issue of adopting a “flexible policy,” with regard to promotion, leave and vacation for women in government jobs, was also discussed.
“Many women refuse to accept promotional transfers citing family responsibility. The committee has suggested that the PSUs and other government agencies could formulate a flexible promotion and transfer policy for women employees.”
While discussing the issue of sexual harassment of women in the workplace, the committee evaluated whether the guidelines set up by the Supreme Court in Vishaka case were being followed. She said the Centre was considering enacting a law in this regard and the private sector could be covered at a later stage.
The meeting on Saturday also discussed in detail the infrastructure facilities, appointments in subordinate courts and the possibility of courts functioning in shifts, re-employment of retired judges and setting up fast-track courts for speedy disposal of cases with regard to rape, sexual harassment and cases involving senior citizens.
Ms. Natarajan said the situation in Tamil Nadu was better in terms of infrastructure. Vacancies were filled immediately and judges were given training periodically.
She said no representation was made to the committee in connection with making Tamil a court language.
