It is thrilling that the group of ministers for sexual harassment comprises Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman, Ramesh Pokhriyal and Smriti Irani. With the most powerful ministers taking harassers in hand, sexual harassment at the workplace will now surely be given the attention it deserves. The most important among the latter is the suggestion that ‘conciliation’ — one of the steps once the case is taken up by the complaints committee — should be removed from the provisions. The other important recommendation relates to degrees of sexual harassment — once again, possibly sourced from the experience of stakeholders — with the suggestion that these degrees be differentiated and internal committees advised accordingly. But the law’s effectiveness will ultimately depend on fair, disinterested action not only by the complaints committee but also by the authorities in the organization to whom the committee must submit its report in each case.

Source: The Telegraph September 29, 2019 19:18 UTC