(a) whether the Government has adopted the recommendations of the ‘Saksham Task
Force’ set up by the University Grants Commission for gender sensitisation and safety on
campuses;
(b) if so, the details of the recommendations which have been accepted and those which
have been implemented along with the manner of implementation; and
(c) whether the Universities across the country, both private and public, have
implemented the same on their campuses and if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)
(a) to (c): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF LOK SABHA
STARRED QUESTION NO.140 FOR 05.03.2018 ASKED BY SHRIMATI KIRRON
KHER, HON’BLE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, REGARDING SAKSHAM TASK
FORCE
(a) to (c): The University Grants Commission (UGC) had set up a Task Force under the
Chairmanship of Prof. Meenakshi Gopinath, Ex-Member, UGC on 8th January, 2013 to
review the existing arrangements, identify loopholes and inadequacies and to formulate
remedial measures to address the concerns of all girls and women, and of the youth who
study and live in the country’s numerous and diverse University campuses. The Task
Force submitted its report titled as “SAKSHAM- Measures for Ensuring the Safety of
Women and Programmes for Gender Sensitization on Campuses” to the UGC on 30th
October, 2013.
The Task Force in its report made the following recommendations: (i) setting up a
Gender Sensitization Unit within the UGC; (ii) campus safety policies should not result in
securitization, such as over monitoring or policing or curtailing the freedom of movement,
specially for women; (iii) all members of Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) must
undergo processes of gender sensitization, whether students, faculty, administration or
support staff. All students must undergo some course or workshop during their period of
study; (iv) all HEIs must formulate guidelines for dealing with sexual harassment in their
respective institutions, whether they be autonomous, affiliating, co-educational or
women’s colleges; (v) a handbook on sexual harassment and gender sensitization to be
prepared for all faculties; (vi) courses and workshop modules on gender sensitization for
all sections of the HEI community; (vii) sufficient lighting in and around campuses,
reliable public transport, accommodation, toilet facilities and health (including sexual
health) for women’s security and freedom from harassment; (viii) strengthening of
women’s studies centres in Universities and women’s development centre cells in
colleges; (ix) undertaking of recommended Projects/ Research Collation of existing
materials and mapping exercises including prioritizing research proposals concerning
sexual harassment and violence in universities and colleges (x) NAAC to build in an
essential gender audit component as part of the evaluation process in its assessment
and accreditation procedures. A copy of the Report of Task Force is available at
http://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/5873997_SAKSHAM-BOOK.pdf .
UGC accepted the recommendations of the Task Force and to ensure compliance
of the recommendations of Task Force, UGC notified University Grants Commission
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and
Students in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2015. These Regulations
describe responsibilities of the HEIs, grievance redressal mechanism, process for making
complaint and conducting inquiry, interim redressal, punishment and compensations,
consequences of non-compliance etc. UGC Regulations being statutory in nature are
binding for all HEIs. A copy of these Regulations is available at
http://egazette.nic.in/WriteReadData/2016/169477.pdf .
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