Women’s Development Cells across universities have become poorly functioning bodies due to administrative apathy and lack of dedicated members and staff, say experts. “Most WDCs routinely take up activities like awareness drives, workshops etc, but the actual handling of complaints with respect to sexual harassment is very lax,” she added. AD Sawant, former pro VC at the University of Mumbai, said “There are several rules and regulations with respect to WDCs. From taking care of facilities like having common rooms for girls to handling complaints, there is a lot of responsibility on the cell. The body being quasi-judicial in nature, there should be senior lawyers, activists and experienced people on this committee,” added Sawant.

Source: dna January 16, 2018 00:33 UTC