Schools to form Vishakha committees: Maharashtra education minister after Badlapur incident

Mumbai: Amid outrage over the alleged sexual abuse of two kindergarten girls at a school in Badlapur, Maharashtra School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar on Tuesday said `Vishakha committees' will be formed in schools.

Schools will face action if CCTV cameras installed on their premises are found to be non-functional, he told reporters here.

Formation of internal committees to deal with complaints of workplace sexual harassment is mandatory as per the Supreme Court's guidelines in the landmark `Vishakha' judgement.

"Vishakha committees will be formed at the school level," Kesarkar said, adding that they will provide a platform for raising grievances to girl students, especially those in standards 9th, 10th and junior college.

There was already a government resolution mandating that schools should have CCTV cameras, but at the school in Badlapur where two girls were allegedly abused the CCTV cameras were not functional, the minister noted.

A circular stating that schools will be accountable for this lapse will be issued, he said.

A notice has already been issued to the Badlapur school, and its principal, a few teachers and two assistants have been suspended, Kesarkar noted.

The decision to install complaint boxes at schools was taken in the past, but principals must check these boxes regularly, he said.

A review meeting was held with education officials earlier this year to check if `Sakhi Savitri committees' were formed in schools, and if the Badlapur institution had not formed such a committee, action will be taken, the minister further said.