Ensure safe environment for women employees, girl students in all schools: Odisha govt to DEOs

NEW DELHI: In the wake of the nationwide outrage over the death of a student at a college in Balasore, Odisha government on Thursday asked all district education officers (DEOs) to ensure a safe environment for women employees and students, particularly girls in schools. In a letter to all the DEOs, School and Mass Education Secretary Shalini Pandit asked them to implement relevant provisions under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

"You are instructed to review the implementation of the above, along with timely constitution and re-constitution of the Internal Complaints Committee(ICC) in all eligible establishments and further ensure that all provisions of the Act are followed in letter and spirit at all workplaces under your jurisdiction," she said. The secretary also told the DEOs to create a safe environment in schools for students for their physical, mental and socio-emotional well-being.

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‘Barnali’ gender programme in schools

The officers were further instructed to implement Barnali, a gender equity programme, to promote positive gender attitudes and behaviours among students, teachers and parents and to eliminate gender-based violence in all elementary and secondary schools of the state in integration with the social studies curriculum.

Besides, the DEOs were asked to display helpline numbers (women helpline-181, child helpline-1098, police helpline-1 12, school student helpline-18003456722) at prominent places in all workplaces, schools and residential hostels. Asking the officers to strictly follow the instructions, Pandit warned, "Any deviation from this will be viewed seriously." A second-year BEd student of a college in Balasore died at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar on Monday night. She had set herself on fire on the college campus on Saturday over inaction against a professor who allegedly sexually harassed her.