Steps taken by Odisha govt to ensure women safety not enough: Activists

Even as the Crime Branch team investigating the death of a girl from Balasore’s Fakir Mohan College, an alleged victim of sexual harassment, is trying to identify the two women hovering near her in the CCTV footage that captured her self-immolation bid, the focus has shifted to a belated attempt by Odisha government to ensure the safety of women on campuses. Women’s rights activists, most of whom have described the Balasore case as an instance of institutional failure, are not only dissatisfied with the late reaction of the government but also feel that the existing laws are not being implemented properly.    

Nearly a week after the Balasore girl succumbed to her injuries at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, chief minister Mohan Majhi launched 'Shaktishree', a state-wide initiative aimed at  ensuring the safety, security, and empowerment of women in universities and colleges. Described by the chief minister as a  “transformative empowerment and self-defence initiative" that will cover 16 state universities and 730 government and aided colleges of the state, it mandates the establishment of 'Shaktishree Empowerment Cells'-a student-led body coordinated by a woman faculty member and a female student in educational institutions. These cells will focus on promoting safety, self-defence, and emotional well-being among students and staff.

As an added support, each district will nominate five senior women professionals, called 'Shakti Apas' ( sisters) , who will mentor students and visit campuses every three months. A dedicated mobile app will also be launched that will offer a secure platform for women students and staff to register complaints anonymously - via text, audio, or video - seek counselling, and access mental health services through Tele-MANAS, a national mental health initiative.

All teaching and non-teaching staff will be required to undergo annual online training related to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Protection, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, popularly known as the POSH Act, and UGC Regulations, 2015.

In addition, a biannual campaign called SAFE (Shakthishree Actions for Female Empowerment) will be conducted to raise awareness on gender issues, bullying, and harassment. Each institution will also be asked to submit an annual campus safety report by 31 December every year.

To enhance security, campuses will be brought under 24x7 CCTV surveillance and an annual event called 'Shakti Swarupini' will be held for students and faculty coordinators to receive training, share feedback, and strengthen the Shakthisree programme.

Besides, chief secretary Manoj Ahuja has written to all government departments to ensure compliance with the POSH Act, 2013. He has also advised all departments to constitute internal committees to redress the grievances of women and evolve mechanisms for capacity building and sensitisation on the issue of sexual harassment besides ensuring time-bound inquiry and redress in such matters.

However, well known women’s rights activist Tapsee Prahraj pointed out that schemes launched by the state government for protection of women are unlikely to be effective unless they are implemented with integrity. “ POSH Act has existed for a long time and many institutions have internal complaints committees (ICCs) like the one in FM College, Balasore which looked into the complaint of the girl. But in most cases members of such bodies are themselves not well equipped to deal with complaints. These bodies also suffer from other handicaps. Sometimes they are under tremendous pressure to submit their report as early as possible which can impact the probe adversely,” said Prahraj.

Namrata Chadha, former member of Odisha State Women's Commission, echoed similar sentiments. “See Vishakha guidelines came into existence in 1997. Ever since there have been other initiatives to address the issue of sexual harassment of women. But in order to be effective they must be properly implemented and people supposed to enforce them should have proper training,” said Chadha.   

Sabita Mohanty, who has kept track of such cases over the years, feels that sometimes ICCs fail to treat cases of sexual harassment with the kind of sensitivity expected of them. In the case of the Balasore college girl, for example, the committee only held the accused teacher responsible for behaving in a “rude and harsh” way towards the victim. Even more importantly, the committee’s recommendation for the transfer of the teacher concerned was not acted upon by the college authorities. “ Such things create a feeling of distrust instead of inspiring trust among the victims,” said Mohanty, adding that in most cases counselling of harassment victims is not done because institutions lack trained counsellors. “Educational institutions mostly rely on teachers of psychology for such jobs but they are not really trained for this,” she said.   

Sources said that despite growing incidents of student suicides, educational institutions in the state have no effective mechanism in place to help youths deal with problems of depression and stress. A few years ago the UGC had  mandated creation of the cells in colleges and universities that would have dedicated counsellors to counsel and guide students either online, through a telephone helpline or in group counselling sessions depending upon the circumstances. “But I hardly know of any institutions which have dedicated counsellors. Maybe things will improve in the wake of nationwide uproar over the death of the college girl from Balasore,” said Mohanty.  

Sources said as many as 72 students have ended their lives in schools and colleges across the state since 2020. In most cases they were driven to take the extreme step by factors including  academic stress, depression related to examination, love affairs, harassment of different kinds and misunderstanding with friends. While cases of student suicides are on the rise in the state the government seems to have done little so far to check the trend.

In 2023, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government led by Naveen Patnaik, under its Mo College Abhiyan had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with India Psychiatric Society to create awareness among college and university students on tackling mental health issues. However, the initiative did not make much progress.