National
Harassment of women: NCW draft bill ready
08/10/05
http://www.hindu.com/2005/10/08/stories/2005100815921800.htm
Special Correspondent
| Will try to submit revised draft around Diwali, says chairperson |
NEW DELHI: : The National Commission for Women (NCW) has finalised the revised draft of the Bill seeking to protect women against sexual harassment at work place on the basis of the Supreme Court guidelines in the 1997 Visakha case.
The draft bill on `The Protection Against Sexual Harassment of Women - 2005' has been submitted to the Centre but was returned with some alterations. The NCW was asked to get feedback from non-government organisations (NGOs). "The two-day consultations are over and we will try and submit the revised draft to the Centre around Diwali after incorporating suggestions made by the women's groups," NCW chairperson Girija Vyas told reporters here on Friday.
Workplace
Some suggestions made at the consultations are inclusion of the word "workplace" in the title of the bill, bringing anganwadi workers and crèches under the purview of educational institutions and making the law applicable to establishments employing up to 20 workers instead of the present 50. It was also said that the victim should have the right to directly complain to the proposed Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) instead of first going through various stages as proposed in the current draft.
The bill seeks to take a comprehensive view of workplaces including the unorganised sector where a large number of women work. It proposes to set up authorities for implementation of the Act — Internal Complaints Committees and Apex Internal Complaints Committees at various departments, institutions and organisations, as also local complaint committees at the district and block levels, so that all working women may have the opportunity to lodge complaints in case of harassment.
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"Ours is a battle not for wealth or for power.
It is a battle for freedom. It is a battle for the reclamation of human personality."
- Dr BR Ambedkar
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