Mumbai: The National Commission for Women’s (NCW) fact-finding team has found shocking ‘lapses and irregularities’ in the functioning of POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) committee at the TCS’ Nashik unit, bringing the focus back on how some women employees were sexually harassed, mentally tortured and coerced to convert by the office staff of other faith, with impunity.
The four-member NCW fact-finding committee, which probed into claims of persecution and religious conversion of women employees at the IT firm in Nashik, came across a series of ‘violations’ that left even the panel members appalled over the level of insensitivity.
The POSH committee, in particular, has been found to be lacking on many counts.
The NCW, in its findings, said, “The internal committee (IC) for POSH is common for Pune and Nasik – a direct contravention of the Act. Not a single IC member ever visited or inspected the Nashik unit for POSH Act compliance.”
It further says that there were no placards, boards, or posters demonstrating the mandate of POSH compliance, also there was no board displaying the members or their contact details of the IC Committee.
“No awareness programmes for employees and no orientation programmes for IC members. In short, there was zero compliance of the POSH Act,” the NCW found in its investigation.
The NCW says, “The committee was shocked at the insensitivity demonstrated by the members of the POSH committee. They had utterly failed for noncompliance with the mandate of section 19(C) of the POSH Act. There was no expression of empathy or sympathy for the female employees at TCS Nasik.”
Notably, days after the forced conversion and sexual violation of women employees at the TCS unit in Nashik shook the nation, the NCW took suo motu cognisance of the matter and sent its team to Nashik to probe allegations by many women employees.
The NCW, in its two-page report, has documented instances of non-compliances and indifference of the Nashik-based firm, reinforcing the fact that many women staff did suffer in silence and were too frightened to speak about harassment they underwent at the hands of fellow men staff, pertaining to other religions.
The report says that the accused persons had assumed effective control of the IT firm’s office, and they used to target young and vulnerable girls. It also found merit in the complaints, stating that they were indeed harassed and molested at the hands of the accused.
“The accused used to bully female employees by denigrating Hindu mythology, beliefs and traditions and by impressing upon the girls that Islam was a superior religion to Hinduism. The accused used to belittle and degrade Hinduism faith and created a coercive atmosphere through repeated anti-religious commentary,” the report states.
It also validates claims of women staff that they were frightened of lodging complaints, primarily for two reasons – first, over social stigma and second, over the absence of complete grievance redressal mechanism at the company.
Digging deep into ‘inhuman’ practices, the team found out that the Nashik centre of TCS was controlled by accused Danish, Tauseef and Raza Menon, and they had the ‘protection’ of Ashwini Chainani. Any employee who dared to raise a voice had to face professional retribution, with the HR department maintaining complete silence and remaining ignorant of the complaint’s woes.
The women’s panel has also recommended that the concerned authorities and TCS management take appropriate action in the matter and ensure strict compliance with statutory safeguards for the protection, dignity and safety of women employees at the workplace.
(IANS)
