Need harsher punishments but sexual harassment is not rampant: SAI

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) acknowledged that punishments need to be harsher for those found guilty of sexual harassment at its institutes but rejected criticism that the menace is rampant.

Stung by a report which claimed that 45 cases of sexual harassment were reported from 24 SAI institutes over the last 10 years, the nodal body to administer Olympic sports in the country asserted that a "robust" system and substantive "deterrents" are in place to deal with such cases.

However, speaking to PTI, a top official, on conditions of anonymity, conceded that punishments, which currently range from transfers to cuts in pay and pension to suspensions and bans, ought to be more stringent.

"I agree the punishments need to be more harsher but it's a policy decision, which can only be changed at the Ministerial level," he said.

As per SAI records, since 2011 till 2019, the SAI received 35 complaints of sexual harassment out of which penalty was imposed in 13 cases, while inquiry is in progress in 15 cases.

Three were found to be false allegations, while two accused were acquitted by the court. One accused committed suicide while another complaint was withdrawn.

Out of these 35 cases, 27 were against coaches while eight were against SAI officials.

The Sports Ministry, under whose jurisdiction SAI functions, pointed to some data of its own to highlight that sexual harassment cases were more of an aberration than the norm.

"Every year around 15,000 athletes sign up to get training in different SAI facilities all over the country. Out of this 4,000 to 5,000 go on to compete in national and international competitions. It means around 1,50,000 athletes were trained at SAI facilities in the last 10 years," the official said.

Along with its head office in Delhi, where the sexual harassment committee is headed by Regional Director Meena Bora, SAI has 12 regional committees to deal with complaints.

"The report says 45 sexual harassment cases were reported over the last 10 years. If we go by the figures, these 45 cases were out of 1,50,000. So, the percentage stands at 0.03," he added.

"What does it say? It only says that we have a robust system and deterrents in place."