Decoding Anti-Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act

The 2012 Nirbhaya rape case had sparked off the debate on the safety of women at public places. In view of vociferous protest against the lacunae of law on women safety, the government passed the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. This legislation seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work. The Bill got the assent of the President on 23 April 2013. Subsequently, The Act came into force from 9 December 2013.

The objective of the Act is to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The need for the act can be understood in terms of international obligations. The protection against sexual harassment and the right to work with dignity are universally recognized human rights by international conventions and instruments such as Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, which has been ratified on the 25th June, 1993 by the Government of India. It is thus expedient to make provisions for giving effect to the said Convention for protection of women against sexual harassment at workplace. Sexual harassment is the violation of the fundamental rights of a woman to equality under articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India and her right to life and to live with dignity under article 21 of the Constitution and right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade or business which includes a right to a safe environment free from sexual harassment.

It creates an insecure and hostile work environment, which discourages women’s participation in work, thereby adversely affecting their economic empowerment and the goal of inclusive growth. Earlier, there had been lacunae of a comprehensive law to address this issue except a few provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Supreme Court Guidelines in the case of Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan.

The increasing work participation rate of women has also made it imperative that a comprehensive legislation focusing on prevention of sexual harassment as well as providing a redressal mechanism be enacted.

The merits of the Act can be gauged from the fact that titdefines “sexual harassment at the workplace” in a comprehensive manner, in keeping with the definition laid down in the Vishaka judgment, and broadening it further to cover circumstances of implied or explicit promise or threat to a woman’s employment prospects or creation of hostile work environment or humiliating treatment, which can affect her health or safety. While the “workplace” in the Vishaka guidelines is confined to the traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee relationship, the Act goes much further to include organisations, department, office, branch unit in the public and private sector, organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the employee during the course of employment including the transportation. The definition of employee covers regular/temporary/ad hoc/daily wage employees, whether for remuneration or not and can also include volunteers. The Act casts a responsibility on every employer, central and State government to create an environment which is free from sexual harassment. Employers are required to organize workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing the employees about the provision of this legislation and display notices regarding the constitution of Internal Committee, penal consequences of sexual harassment. The Act incorporates a provision for conciliation. The Internal Complaints Committee can take steps to settle the matter between the aggrieved woman and the respondent; however this option will be used only at the request of the woman. The Act also provides that monetary settlement shall not be made a basis of conciliation. Further, if any of the conditions of the settlement is not complied with by the respondent, the complainant can go back to the Committee who will proceed to make an inquiry. The Act prescribes a proper timeframe for the completion of an inquiry and action by a district magistrate. This may speed up the process of delivery of justice. The Act has provisions for providing reliefs to the aggrieved woman in the interim period including leave and transfer during the pendency of the inquiry. The Act prohibits disclosure of the identity and addresses of the aggrieved woman, respondent and witnesses.

However the Act has certain pitfalls which could have been avoided. Firstly, the Act requires that every office or branch with 10 or more employees constitute an Internal Complaints Committee. But if units of the work place are located at different places, an Internal Committee should be constituted 'as far as practicable' at all administrative units or offices. Secondly, each Internal Committee requires membership from an NGO or association committed to the cause of women. This implies that every unit in the country with 10 or more employees needs to have one such person in the Committee. As per the Economic Census 2005, there are at least six lakh establishments that employ less than 10 or more persons. There is no public data on the number of NGO personnel ‘committed to the cause of women’. There could be difficulties in implementation if sufficient number of such NGO personnel is not available. Furthermore the involvement of NGOs could make employers less comfortable in reporting grievances, due to confidentiality.

According to the Act, two different bodies are called ‘Local Complaints Committee.’ The Act provides that every District Officer shall constitute a Local Complaints Committee in the district. It also prescribes that an additional Local Complaints Committee shall be constituted at the block level to address complaints in certain cases. The jurisdiction and functions of these committees have not been delineated. It is also unclear whether the block level committees are permanent committees or temporary ad hoc committees constituted for dealing with specific cases.

            The Act commits a huge blunder by failing to include domestic workers in its ambit. The Act should have been applicable to domestic workers as these employees especially live-in workers are prone to sexual harassment and abuse, without access to any complaint mechanism or remedial measures.

The Act provides that in case a committee arrives at a conclusion that the allegation was false or malicious, it may recommend that action be taken against the woman who made the complaint. There may be merit in providing safeguards against malicious complaints, this clause penalizes even false complaints (which may not be malicious). This could deter women from filing complaints.

The definition of sexual harassment should have encompassed employer-employee relationship as well as a hostile work environment. These laws should have been gender neutral.

            Notwithstanding the pitfalls, the Act no doubt is a landmark legislation to enhance the safety of women at a workplace. But care should be taken to ensure that it is implemented effectively. The Act should also be duly amended from time to time to keep pace with changing scenario.

Legislative Comments- Food Security Act

                                                                                

In  an  effort  to  end  hunger  and  malnutrition  in  the  country, the  government  of India  passed  a  landmark  bill  on  Food  Security  on  September  5,  2013.  This  article  aims to  understand  the  legislation  and  present  a  critical  assessment  of  it.  In  order  to understand  the  legislation,  let  us  first  understand  the  meaning  of  food  security.  Food Security  refers  to  a  household’s  physical  and  economic  access  to  food  that  fulfills  dietary needs  and  food  preferences  of  that  household  for  living  an  active  and  healthy  life.  The WHO  defines  food  security  as  having  three  components: 1) food  availability-  having sufficient  quantities  of  food  on  a  consistent  basis  2) food  access-  having  sufficient resources,  both  economic  and  physical  to  obtain  appropriate  food  for  a  nutritious  diet 3) food  use- appropriate  use  based  on  knowledge  of  basic  nutrition  and  healthcare , adequate drinking  water  and  sanitation. The  FAO  adds  the  fourth  facet, which  is  the  stability  of first  three  factors  of  food security  over  time.

The  need  for  the  food  security  legislation  can  be traced  to  the  fact  that  India  is  a party  to  the  Universal  declaration  of  human  rights  of  1948  and   International  Covenant  on  Economic,  Social and  Cultural rights, both  of  which  state  that  everyone  has  a  right  to  a standard  of  living  adequate  for  his  health,  family,  and food. The  dismal  statistics  on India’s  malnutrition  and  hunger  also  made it  imperative  to  enact  such legislation. According  to  the  HUNGaMa(Hunger and Malnutrition) Survey(2011) report, in  100  focus districts  located  in  six  states, 42  percent  children  under  five  are  underweight  and  59 percent  are  stunted.  Also,  the  Nutrition  Barometer  launched  by  the  NGOs  namely  Save the  Children  and  the  World  Vision  points  out  that  every  day  5000  children  die  largely due  to  causes  like  malnutrition  and  the  lack  of proper diet. Taking  into  account,  these factors, the  Hon’ble  Supreme  Court  of  India  had rightly  observed  in  Chameli Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh(1996), that  the  “right  to  live  guaranteed  in  any  civilized  society  implies the  right  to  food”,  among  other  rights.

Now  let  us  try  to  understand  the  provisions  of  the  act.  It  specifies  that  up  to  75  percent of  the  rural  population  and  up  to  50  percent  of  the  urban  population  shall  be  entitled  to five  kg  food grains  per  month at  3, 2, 1  per  kg  for  rice,  wheat  and  coarse  grains (millet),  respectively  for  three  years  from  enactment  of  the  Act.  It  also  proposes  meal entitlements  to  pregnant  women  and  lactating  mothers,  children,  destitute,  homeless,  and starving  persons.  The  Act  lays  down  that  central  government  shall  prescribe  guidelines  for  the  identification  of  households  in  each  group  whereas  the  state  government  would implement  the  same.  It  stipulates  that  the  eldest  woman  shall  be  the  head of  every priority  and general  household  for  the purpose  of  issue  of  ration  cards. In  the  absence  of  an  adult  woman, the  eldest  male  member  shall  be  the  head   of  the

¹Author  is an alumnus of Lady Sri Ram College and Indian Institute of Mass Communication has worked in media

  household.

            The legislation  also  spells out  the  conditions  of  reform  of  the  Targeted  Public  Distribution  System  for  proper  implementation  of  the  act.  It  also  prescribes  for  grievance  redressal  mechanism  by  providing  for  District  Grievance  Redressal  Officers  and  the  establishment of  National  and  State  Food  Commissions  to  hear  appeals  against  the  former.

            The  Act  passed   by  parliament  has  been  hailed  as a  historic   social legislation  for combating  hunger. With  this, India  will  join the  league   of countries in  the world  that guarantee food  security to  majority  of its population.  It marks a  shift  from  the  current welfare  paradigm  to  a  rights  based  approach  to  the  problem  of  food  security  and  confers legal  rights  on  women,  children  and  other  special  groups  like  destitute,  the  homeless, disaster  and  emergency  affected persons  living  in  starvation  to  receive  meals  free  or  at  an  affordable  price. At  Rs 125,000 crore of  government  support, the  food  security programme  is  slated  to  be  the  largest  in  the  world.

            However,  one  must  also  understand  the  implications  of  the  legislation.  It  adds  to the  problem  of  burgeoning  subsidies.  According  to  one  estimate,  the price  of  rice  and wheat  would  be approximately Rs 13.45  per  Kg  and  12.85 per  Kg,  respectively  and at  this price  the  subsidy  portion  would  be  Rs 10.45  per  kg  of  rice  and Rs  10.85  per  Kg  of wheat.  Taking  into  account  that  the  burden on  the  exchequer  due  to  the  bill  is   projected at  Rs  1.3  lakh  crores  per  year  and  as  such  the  increase  in  subsidy  burden  would  add  to the fiscal deficit woes. It will aggravate inflationary pressures as agriculture in India is largely a gamble  of  monsoons  and  erratic  rainfall  would  mean  procurement  through imports,  which will  push  up  the  prices  of  foodgrains.  Moreover,  the  act  cannot  be  regarded  as  a  step forward  over  the  Targeted  Public  Distribution  System. The  country  still  continues  with targeted  PDS  as  the  Act  excludes 33  percent  of  the  population,  giving  scope  to  large exclusion  of  the  poor  or  inclusion  of  agriculturally  prosperous  in  the  country  as  a  whole. Further,  it  does  not  effectively  identify  who  will  come  in the  excluded  category.

Also,  the  quantity  of  foodgrains  as  specified  in  the  Act  at  five  kg  per  month implies  166  grams  of  cereals  per  person  per  day,  which  fall  short  of the  quantity prescribed  by the  Indian  Council  of  Medical  Research  for  a  healthy  living. It  stipulates  at least  16  Kg  for  adults  and  7  Kg  for  children.  The  Act  may  help  increase  access  to calories  but  it will  not  ensure  that  beneficiaries  get  all  important  nutrient  of  their  diet. According  to the  ICMR  data, 87  percent  of  pregnant  women  and  75  percent  of  the children  under  five  suffer  from  iron  deficiency  anemia.  Farmers’ bodies  fear  that  the  Act will  lead  to  making  the   government , the  biggest  buyer,  seller  and  hoarder  of  foodgrains. There  is  a  feeling  that  the  Act  would  distort  the  market  mechanism  and  reduce  the bargaining  power  of  farmers.

The  implementation  of  the  Act  entails  setting  up  sound  storage  and  infrastructure facilities from farms  to  processing factories, establishing co-operatives to enhance the bargaining power of  farmers and  providing  speedy  and  hassle  free  institutional  credit  to them.  Agricultural  research  and  technological  innovations  should  be  encouraged  to  bridge the  critical  gaps  in  agriculture.  Also,  the  role of  intermediaries  who  take  away  a  major chunk  of  farmers’  income  should  be  checked  through  effective  legislations.  To  increase the  benefit  of  rising  cost  to  the  farmer  and  to  minimize  the  cost  of  produce  to  the consumer,  the  Minimum  Support  Price  must  be  fixed  for  all  major  commodities  and implemented  judiciously  throughout  the  country.

The  present  legislation  is  thus  merely  a  piecemeal  measure  which  cannot  be regarded  as  entirely  successful  unless  a  holistic  approach  is  adopted  to  tackle  the  issue  of  food  security.