The University Grants Commission (UGC) on 22nd November, 2022 has stated that the Ministry of Education has decided that a special drive be conducted in all Autonomous Bodies (ABs)/ Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)/ Higher Educational Institutions. The drive shall be based on the following activities:
- sensitization workshops for the employees of the ABS/ PSUs/ Higher Educational Institutions to make them aware about the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
- observation of 25th November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
- observation of Discrimination against Women Pakhwada from 25th November to 10th December, 2022.
- Internal Complaints Committee to conduct a special drive to review the pending cases and take appropriate action before 9th December, 2022.
The details of the programmes or activities conducted by the institutions may be provided to gender sensitization division of UGC at ugc.iccgs@gmail.com by December 11, 2022. These details may be provided in soft copy; both in PDF and MS word format.
Pertinently, the UGC has notified the Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions Regulations, 2015. These Regulations are available on the UGC website: ugc.ac.in.
These Regulations, amongst others, describe the following important matters:
- the responsibilities of higher educational institutions,
- grievance redressal mechanism,
- process for making complaint and conducting inquiry interim redressal,
- punishment and compensation,
- consequences of non-compliance etc.
UGC Regulations are binding on universities and colleges.
