Mumbai:
Suffer in silence, or shift. The options are limited for female officers at
Mantralaya when they face harassment -- sexual or otherwise -- at workplace. The days of living in fear for many will soon be over. An independent 12-member women's forum --
Durga Manch -- will take up cases of harassment and bring the guilty to book.
The Maharashtra State Gazetted Officers' Federation (MSGOF) constituted the forum after noticing an upward trend in instances of sexual abuse of women officers.
Consider these cases. A dynamic lady officer at
Mantralaya was subjected to harassment by her male boss. Her colleagues advised her to change the department instead of making the issue public.
In another case, a senior minister held an IAS officer's hand while she introduced herself. She urged the then chief secretary to transfer her to another department. And once, a senior male officer kept making advances to a lady officer. When she turned him down repeatedly, he began questioning her work. All the women suffered silently.
Now, the forum will invite women to narrate incidents of sexual abuse. Women can send their complaints in an envelope. Officials of the Durga Manch will safeguard their identity. They will also take steps to ensure that the forum is not misused to settle scores against colleagues.
MSGOF's chairman DG Kulthe said: "We all celebrate
Navratri and worship goddess
Durga. We also come across cases of women officers being exploited by male colleagues. The
Durga Manch will send across a strong message to those looking at women as pleasure objects."
Of the 1.10 lakh officers in government jobs across Maharashtra, 17,000 are women in class one and two categories. The women and child welfare development ministry is flooded with letters complaining of sexual harassment from various districts. Last year, there were over 500 cases. It included women in the police too.
According to a senior IAS officer, "The degree of harassment varies. Despite the IAS tag, we often have to accept secondary treatment from seniors and politicians." She narrated how an MLA threatened to get her transferred after she turned down his request for some work.
"The attitude of male colleagues against women even at the officer rank is different. It does not mean a majority are exploiters. But even if the number is small, it cannot be ignored," said Kulthe.
The state federation intends to extend the forum's services to women employees in all categories.
Copyright restricted. Under license from
www.3dsyndication.com