INTERNAL COMPLAINT COMMITTEE/ANTI-SEXUAL HARASSMENT CELL

As per the guidelines of UGC and the Supreme Court, an Anti-Sexual Harassment Cell has been established by the college to provide a healthy atmosphere to the students of the college. The college is committed to create and maintain a community in which students, teachers and non-teaching staff can work together in an environment free of violence, harassment, exploitation, intimidation and stress. This includes all forms of gender violence, sexual harassment and discrimination on the basis of sex/gender or amongst the same sex members. The institute is strongly in support of gender equality and opposes any form of gender discrimination and violence.

Vision:

  1. Create a safe, respectful, and empowering college community, free from sexual harassment.
  2. Proactively prevent sexual harassment through education, awareness campaigns, and training programs.
  3. Uphold the values of dignity, equality, and safety for all members of the college community.

Objectives of the Cell :

  1. To fulfill the directives of the Supreme Court, enjoining all employers of the country to develop and implement a policy against sexual harassment and gender based violence at the work places.
  2. To evolve an effective mechanism for the prevention and redressal of sexual harassment and other acts of gender based violence at the campus.
  3. To ensure the implementation of policy in letter and spirit through proper reporting of complaints and their follow-up procedures.
  4. To ensure that the institute upholds the commitment to create an environment without gender based discrimination.

For the purpose of above given directive “Sexual Harassment” shall include, but will not be confined to the following:

  1. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and/or verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature made, either explicitly or implicitly, in return for a term or condition of teaching/guidance, employment, participation or evaluation of a person’s engagement in the institute.
  2. When unwelcome sexual advances and/or verbal, non-verbal, or physical conduct such as loaded comments, remarks or jokes, letters, phone calls or through e-mail or any other communication mediums, gestures, showing of pornography, lurid stares, physical contact or molestation, stalking, sounds or display of a derogatory nature, have the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual’s performance or of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment; Forcible physical touch or molestation; Eve teasing, innuendos and taunts, physical confinement against one’s will and any other act to impinge upon one’s privacy.
  3. Any act or conduct by a person in authority and belonging to one sex which denies or would deny equal opportunity in pursuit of education or career development, or otherwise making the environment at the premises hostile or intimidating to a person belonging to the other / same sex.
  4. Any such conduct committed by a third party or outsider in relation to a student, teacher or non-teaching employee, or vice versa during the course of a person’s engagement with the college.

Procedure for Registering Complaints

  1. All complaints must be brought by the complainant in person to any member of the Cell/campus subcommittee. The exception for this will be in case of forced confinement of the person. In such a case, brought by another person on behalf of the complainant, the cell/campus subcommittee will examine whether an investigation, intervention or some other assistance is needed. In exceptional cases, third party / witness complaints may be entertained. In such cases, the Cell/campus subcommittee will ascertain whether the person alleged to have been harassed wishes to lodge a formal complaint. Once such a complaint is received, the cell/campus subcommittee shall proceed to investigate it as per the procedure specified.
  2. If the matter is reported to campus subcommittee, it shall immediately inform the Convener of the Cell and proceed for preliminary investigation and submit the report to the Convener of the cell.
  3. If the complainant wishes, can be accompanied by a representative
  4. A complainant can go directly to the competent authority. However, in such cases, which should be exceptional, the complainant should give reasons for doing so. It is open to the competent authority to refer the complaint back to the Cell for inquiry.

Anti-Sexual Harassment Cell  assures all the complaints of the students, teaching and non-teaching staffs are treated with dignity and respect and the complaints should be maintained confidential.

False Reporting:  Intentionally making a false report or providing false information is grounds for indiscipline.