The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) submitted a report to the city government pointing out the “sorry state of affairs” in the implementation of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act.
The law mandates the constitution and proper functioning of a Local Complaints Committee (LCC) in every district.
The DCW chief Swati Maliwal in her report to the government stated that between 2019 and 2021, only 40 complaints were received by all the LCCs. It added that even the small number of complaints received by the LCCs were not dealt with in a time-bound manner.
The Commission also stated that the committees have not been provided dedicated office space, budget, and staff.
“This cripples their functioning. For instance, South, West and Shahdara districts have informed that there is no dedicated room or staff allocated for the functioning of the committees,” the report stated.
The DCW also flagged the lack of awareness about the existence of these committees. It recommended that an efficient complaint receiving mechanism be set up online as well as offline.
“The sorry state of affairs in the implementation of the law against sexual harassment at workplace in the Capital is distressing,” the DCW chief stated.
