(a) whether the Government has noticed atrocities against girl students in various higher
educational institutions including Central Universities;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the steps taken by the Government in this regard;
(c) whether the Government has any mechanism to monitor such cases; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
(SMT. SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)
(a) to (d) As per University Grants Commission (UGC), 295 cases of sexual harassment have
been reported during 2014-15 in various institutes of higher learning against women. All India
Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has also reported two (2) cases of sexual harassment
against women. The details of such cases are given at Annexure.
The UGC have taken various steps to address the issue of sexual harassment in institutions
of higher learning. Directions have been issued by UGC to all universities to establish a Cell to
monitor and deal with sexual harassment cases and also to develop a page on their web-site for
loading such complaints of sexual harassment. The universities have also been advised to take
prompt action as soon as such incidents comes to their notice. The institutions of higher learning
have been advised to hold conferences, seminars, workshops to sensitize the management and
teachers and students about the issue. In the latest advisory issued in November, 2015, UGC has
further reiterated its policy of zero tolerance with regard to harassment of any kind in the
institutions of higher education.
AICTE has Standing Complaint Scrutiny Committee (SCSC) who scrutinize/examine the
complaints, and as per the Complaint Handling Procedure Manual of AICTE, complaints related
to sexual harassment received in AICTE are forwarded to National Commission for Women for
necessary action.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development has also written to Centrally Funded
Higher Education Institutions (CFHEIs) to tackle the issue of atrocities against girl students and
advised them for formation of Complaints Committee as per guidelines i.e. Committee against
Sexual Harassment (CASH) or Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) or Women Cell to address
the complaints of the students and women employees.
Several innovative measures such as setting up of Complaint Box at various places,
installation of closed circuit Television (CCTV) in campuses viz. parking corridors, canteen etc.,
to-and–fro escort shuttle service for girls, provision for Girls Common Room in the institute,
training on use of technology as a tool for safety, dedicated emergency helpline have been taken
for addressing the issue of sexual harassment. The CFHEIs have also created monitoring
mechanism to ensure that the complaints are registered freely without any fear or trouble, action
is taken on these complaints in a time-bound manner and if need be, assistance of local law and
order authorities is sought.
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