Bhubaneswar: Following complaints of sexual harassment at workplace coming to the fore in some universities recently, Odisha govt on Monday asked heads of all higher education institutions (HEIs) to ensure a safe and secure environment for their employees and students.
Some universities and colleges in the state do not have internal complaint committees (ICC) under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.“Many HEIs have ICCs, but these are not functional. The govt, in the latest letter, asked the institutions to form ICC and submit their compliance to the govt by the month-end.

Rajata Kumar Mansingh of the higher education department, in a letter to registrars of all state public, private, deemed to be universities, principals of govt and non-govt colleges, along with teacher education institutions, urged them to follow the govt order.
“To meet the statutory obligations under this Act, each institution is required to constitute an internal complaint committee as per section 4 of the Act. This committee is crucial for addressing grievances related to sexual harassment and fostering a positive and respectful workplace,” said Mansingh in the letter.
The Act mandates all workplaces, including educational institutions, to set up an ICC to receive and redress complaints of sexual harassment.
The ICC should consist of a presiding officer who is a woman employed at a senior level, at least two employees, and one member from an NGO or association committed to the cause of women.
The UGC has been issuing guidelines to all universities and colleges to set up ICCs and take necessary steps to prevent and redress sexual harassment on their campuses.
UGC also asks all universities to set up special cells in their institutions to deal with issues of gender-based violence and conduct gender sensitisation programmes. It suggests the HEIs to ensure a safe and healthy environment for women students and employees on their campuses as a necessary pre-condition to quality education and research.
Recently, a girl student of Utkal University lodged a complaint against her faculty member for sexually harassing her. The university probed the matter and suspended the faculty member.
The internal complaint committee of VSSUT, Burla, has recently submitted its report in a sexual harassment case. A woman faculty member had alleged harassment against her colleague.

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