To,

Sri K T Rama Rao, Hon'ble IT Minister, Telangana

Women in India have fought all odds to now have a presence in almost every professional sector. But frequent reports of sexual harassment at the workplace tell us the true story of what many women face when they get to work.   

Women deserve a safe environment at work so that they can achieve our goals.

A step towards that is forming an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) as mandated by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

Hyderabad-based NGO Yugantar filed RTIs via their platform yourti.in and have received disappointing replies to their RTI applications to the Telangana Information Technology, Electronics and Communication Department. The department says that “building awareness and prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace in this department is under process”.

That doesn't sound right! The IT department is obliged to follow government-mandates. Let’s ask them to form the Internal Complaints Committee.

It has been 5 years since the Sexual Harassment law was created in our country, but you and I both know that the reality is far from conducive for women to feel safe at the workplace.

If enough of us sign this petition, we can pressure Telangana ITE&CD prioritise women’s safety. They are already “under process”, our collective signatures might very well be the catalyst to put in place the ICC and set an example for other government departments.

Let’s not waste this opportunity. Yeah?

Sources:

Air India ousts senior executive accused of sexual harassment - The Times of India

Workplace sexual harassment: Telangana govt depts lax on complaints panels - The Week 

Several govt. departments, agencies yet to constitute ICCs - The Hindu