The overall awareness among Indian companies about the need for a well-defined mechanism to tackle sexual harassment at the workplace is abysmally poor, notes Shyamal Majumdar.
Some companies - even reputed ones - need a crash course in how to deal with sexual harassment cases.
The latest example of this is the complaint filed by a former woman employee of IL&FS against a few of her seniors.
While the matter is before the police and the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the final verdict on who is guilty is awaited, IL&FS did something that was inexplicable.
The latest example of this is the complaint filed by a former woman employee of IL&FS against a few of her seniors.
While the matter is before the police and the National Commission for Women (NCW) and the final verdict on who is guilty is awaited, IL&FS did something that was inexplicable.
In its response to the NCW on the woman's allegation that her boss had resorted to abusive language several times, IL&FS denied the charges outright.
But in its eagerness to prove its point, the company listed five abusive dialogues from the Bollywood films Dabangg, Gangs of Wasseypur, Dedh Ishqiya and Omkara and cited a seven-letter word, starting with the letter 'c' to justify its stand that it wasn't an abuse and only meant idiot, and was in fact a part of "Mumbai slang", which had been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification.
It would be interesting to know why IL&FS did something as trivial as this. What on earth was the need for IL&FS to cite such dialogues after denying that any abusive word had been used?
IL&FS has, of course, said it had followed all the rules, appointed a special committee that examined the woman's complaints and came to the conclusion that there was no evidence or truth in her allegations.
In its letter dismissing her from service in June, IL&FS cited not reporting to work without prior approval - a charge the complainant has denied.
To be fair, all this requires a detailed investigation to figure out who is being economical with the truth.
In general, however, Indian companies have a long way to go in handling this sensitive issue and the issue of sexual harassment has largely been swept under the carpet.
There is no doubt that the overall awareness among Indian companies about the need for a well-defined mechanism to tackle sexual harassment at the workplace is abysmally poor.
For example, an Ernst & Young survey said over a third of the companies operating in India have not constituted the mandatory panel against sexual harassment at the workplace.
