Maneka Gandhi urges political parties to form sexual harassment committee

With the rising number of alleged sexual harassment cases surfacing since the #MeToo campaign raged in India, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Thursday urged all the political parties to form internal complaint committees.

Gandhi informed that she has written letters to presidents of six national and 56 state political parties. The letter read, "Since this is a mandatory requirement under the law, I request you to constitute this committee immediately if not done already. The details of the committee can be placed on the website of the party. Necessary communication may be issued for the information of the public."

Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act mandates every organisation to set up internal complaint committee which should be headed by a senior woman employee. The committee also needs to have one external member.

On Wednesday, MJ Akbar, who served as the Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, stepped down from his post following a series of sexual harassment allegations against him.