Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, July 15: Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) today organized an awareness workshop on “Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013” at Spiritual Growth Centre, Katra.
The workshop aimed at creating awareness among the employees regarding various types of sexual harassments at work place and laws related to the same.
Anshul Garg, Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB, while appreciating such workshops said that every employee must be aware of the such laws and redressal mechanism as these sessions go beyond the Act and cover what the precursors to sexual harassment are and how anyone can be a change agent, thus perpetuating an environment of safety, trust and fairness at the workplace.
Navneet Singh, Addl Chief Executive Officer, SMVDSB briefed the importance of the session and underlined the need to create awareness about the Act to ensure that the female employees do not face any discomfort at workplaces.
Resource Person Advocate, Neeta Verma, President-Human Rights Mission (J&K) and Director, National Campaign Amongst Students, deliberated in detail about the subject and sensitized the participants about the provisions of the Act. The lecture was followed by open discussion among the participants.
She further dwelt on the Vishakha Guidelines and gave insights about the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013. She also shared the importance and working of the Internal Complaint Committee in the institutions and at the workplace to address the challenges of harassment and its prevention.
Discussion about various laws, rules and regulations with recent enactment with judgements in context to sexual harassment namely, Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedures Code and Information Technology Act also took place.
More than 50 female employees of SMVDSB from various cadres attended the workshop. The session was very interactive and the participants raised many queries and shared their observations and experiences. The session concluded with details of how any organization can take preventive measures against sexual harassment.
Noteworthy is that about 10 percent of the female employees constitute the strong workforce of the Shrine Board.
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