ITANAGAR, Jul 14: Following report of serious allegation of sexual harassment of  a woman police personnel allegedly by the former Superintendent of Police, West Kameng,  the Arunachal Pradesh Women’s Welfare Society (APWWS) met the Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Women Chairperson Kenjum Pakam and her team to know about the  action taken by the Commission.
The Commission received a complaint letter from the victim and on July 3, they wrote to the Chairman of Internal complaint committee to intervene in the case and also sought status report.
APWWS  had questioned the Internal Complaint Committee , SP Office, West Kameng for transferring  it to the Local Complaint Committee.
When the matter is under inquiry, the alleged accused shouldn’t have been transferred out of the State till the completion of inquiry, APWWS said.
We question the conduct of the Police Department in dealing with the complaint, it said.
President APWWS Kani Nada Maling said that the very objective of  constituting of Internal Complaint Committee within an organisation is to address and resolve complaints of sexual harassment in the workplace.
It is in-house mechanism for dealing with the complaints of sexual harassment and also to provide a safe environment for the employees.
Though ICC does not have the power to impose penalties but the committee may recommend disciplinary action against the accused if there is findings. ICC is important component of the Act which aims to protect employees for sexual harassment in the workplace.
There are challenges in  implementation  of the Act  in the state due to lack of sensitisation, she said  adding that the State Government should work on sensitizing its workforce, particularly head of departments and frame proper guidelines to ensure that the justice delivery system  under this Act is properly Implemented.
She further said that Internal Complaint Commissions and Local Compliant Committees across the state should undergo training to equip themselves with various sections of the Act.
Maling further said that there is no proper office and no honorarium paid to the members and no funds for carrying out the work and creating awareness. Just appointing of the members for the sake of appointing them by the district administrations and various dept won’t help in delivery of justice. 
Maling was accompanied by Assistant Secretary General Taku Yasap Tadar.

---

Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

<< Back to News List