Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh government will frame rules to ensure confidential reporting of cases of harassment and sexual harassment faced by women at workplaces and educational institutions, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced in the Assembly on Wednesday.
Responding to a question raised by MLA Malender Rajan during Question Hour on the sixth day of the ongoing Monsoon Session, Sukhu said women should be treated with respect everywhere and many victims are unable to openly express their grievances. The government, he said, would create a mechanism to ensure that complaints remain confidential.
Earlier, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Dhani Ram Shandil informed the House that 131 cases of molestation and sexual harassment involving women had been reported at government, semi-government and private workplaces, as well as educational institutions, during the period under review. Of these, action was taken against the accused in 37 cases, while investigations into 98 cases were completed and 33 remained pending.
The minister said three persons were dismissed from service, one was given a major penalty, one was suspended and FIRs were registered in two cases. Chargesheets were issued in two cases, while nine accused employees were transferred. Nineteen cases were resolved through mutual settlement, while warnings were issued after written apologies.
Shandil also said the Ministry of Women and Child Development has launched a centralised electronic platform to allow working women to register complaints of workplace sexual harassment, track their status and seek confidential redressal. A Local Committee has been constituted in every district of the state, while nodal officers have been appointed at block and tehsil levels in rural areas and at ward or municipal levels in urban areas.
