'BMP official suspended on sexual harassment charge'

BMP official suspended on sexual harassment charge
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/nov112006/city315020061111.asp
(DECCAN HERALD, BANGALORE, Nov. 11, 2006)

DH News Service Bangalore:
In a case of alleged abuse and harassment of women employees, the social welfare officer of the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, P P Shivanand, was on Friday suspended by Commissioner K Jairaj, following an inquiry by the National Commission for Women. The NCW team led by Nirmala Venkatesh has noted that the charges against Shivanand “are serious enough to recommend his suspension” and that the same would be conveyed to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy (who holds the Urban Development portfolio). The Commissioner suspended the officer based on the preliminary report. Earlier in the day, Ms Venkatesh told reporters that some BMP corporators had tried to influence the NCW team to ‘act’ in the officers’s favour.

A group of tailoring teachers at a BMP-run institution had complained to the NCW about Shivanand forcing them “to submit to his physical lust.” Ms Nirmala claimed Shivanand had owned up to some of the charges during the inquiry, but denied it later. “This is a conspiracy against me because I am a stickler to rules”, Mr Shivanand says and claims he had not been given a chance to state his case during the inquiry. Mr Shivanand has put in 34 years of service and has been the Social Welfare Officer for two years now. According to the NCW, Venkataram Naik, Joint Commissioner (Administration) of the BMP, told it that its Complaints Cell on harassment of women in the workplace “has been active since November 2004, but it hasn’t received any complaint to date”. But Ms Franchina, who led the complainants, says: “We’ve been writing to the corporators, the mayor and the commissioner”. Her colleagues note that their area corporators more often than not try to hush up “our kind of complaints”. Being temporary staff, “we are also worried about our jobs and are not in a position to take our case personally to the higher-ups”. Tailoring teachers in the BMP rolls number 300; they are paid an honourarium of Rs 3,500 a month.

‘CAN SUMMON EVEN MLAs’
The NCW can summon legislators if any complaints are brought before it by affected women, member Nirmala Venkatesh says. She was responding to media queries on allegations by BMP women corporators on harassment by their area MLAs. Ms Nirmala also noted that Karnataka’s state women’s commission has been without a head for more than a year now and said she would soon broach the issue with Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy.

"With this on, I can see you (women) all naked..." The state of Government Offices in Karnataka

http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/nov52006/index24452006115.asp
A skirt-chaser's escapades
Sunday, November 5, 2006
By Satish Shile, DH News Service, Bangalore:

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"I bought these goggles for Rs 12,000. Guess what — with this on, Ican see you all naked...ha ha ha!!"

Some bawdy stuff mouthed by the villain of a B-grade pot-boiler? No, this was said by a real-life government official strutting around hissubordinate female employees, his latest acquisition perchedchallengingly on his nose. He follows this up with a more "discreet"enquiry: "Have you ever watched blue films or read porn literature?"

If the employees are to be believed, this was how then Chief AccountsOfficer V Nagaraj of the Sericulture Department (SD) allegedly conducted himself when among woman colleagues. Often, he would forcethem to accompany him on official visits, threatening to "shunt" themout if they failed to oblige.

The employees allege that the officer often referred to some of them as kunti (handicapped), dumy (stout), munde (widow) and mudhuki (agedwoman), among other colourful expressions. An employee has evenaccused him of physically "misbehaving" with her in his chamber. All the 23 employees in the section, distressed over his behaviour, wroteto the commissioner of SD in January 2006, demanding that he be sentback to his parent department. They also wrote to the Karnataka StateWomen's Commission through the departmental committee, demanding aninquiry into the matter.

In their letter to the commissioner, a copy of which is available withDeccan Herald, they called the officer a "womaniser". Stating that he always used to have three to four female employees "attending on himin his chamber", the letter had urged the commissioner to relieve themof "this torture". And "relieved" they were when he was sent back to the accounts department in May.

Nagaraj is currently working for the Sujala Watershed DevelopmentProject. SWC member-secretary Parvathi Thimmaiah said the commissionhad written to the chief accounts controller, asking him to conduct a departmental enquiry against Nagaraj.

The accounts department (AD), in turn, has written to the SD, seekingdetails so as to initiate an inquiry."

Once we get the details, we'll request either the Lokayukta or a retired judge to hold an inquiry," an AD official said.

Meanwhile, Ms Thimmaiah stated that the SWC has received 15 other complaints on harassment of women in workplaces, nine of which are from government departments."

Not many of these cases have been reported as most of the departmentshaven't formed committees to look into such issues."

"The government needs to take urgent action in this regard," she added.

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