(a) whether the Government has taken serious views the incidence of Sports Authority of India (SAI) wherein an athletic coach sexually harassed trainee students as reported widely in media;
(b) whether the SAI has any mechanism to monitor such incidents; and
(c) whether organisations where women are employed in large numbers have been mandated to have an in-house complain redressal mechanism as per Visakha Guidelines and if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER FOR YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS
(SHRI ANURAG SINGH THAKUR)
(a) The Government has a strict policy of “Zero Tolerance” against commission of acts of sexual harassment. This policy is being observed in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) too. All instances of alleged commission of acts of sexual harassment in SAI are dealt with as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) 2012, as well as the Vishakha guidelines.
(b) Standing Committees (Internal Complaints Committees) have been set up at various centres of SAI pursuant to the Vishakha Guidelines and all complaints of sexual harassment are referred to the Committees for further appropriate action.
In addition, a 24X7 call centre is also in operation in SAI where the trainees can lodge complaints. Contact is also made with sportspersons regularly through the call centre to monitor their grievances / issues. Further, workshops are conducted by SAI to increase awareness among all trainees and employees the mechanism to available for dealing with cases of sexual harassment.
(c) Apart from the SAI, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical Education (LNIPE) are the other two major organisations under the aegis of the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports with significant number of women employees. In order to deal with complaints of sexual harassment in NYKS and LNIPE, Internal Complaints Committee/Sexual Harassment Committee have also been constituted in the NYKS and LNIPE.
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