#MeToo: GoM constituted to strenghthen legal framework to deal with sexual harassment cases

New Delhi, Oct 24: In the wake of sudden surge in sexual harassment allegations at workplace, the Union Government on Wednesday (October 24) constituted a Group of Ministers headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to strengthen the legal and institutional frameworks to deal with such cases. Others members of the GoM are Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and Maneka Gandhi.

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi had last week requested all poltical parties to constitute an internal committee to look into such issues. She said political parties should create an atmosphere conducive to women.

Several women in the past few months came out in the open to level sexual harassment charges against prominent persons from fthe film industry to politics. The movement, called #MeToo, gained traction in India late in September after actress Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of inappropriate behaviour on the sets of a film they were shooting in 2008.

In October, the Minister of state for External Affairs MJ Akbar was accused of sexual harassment by several female colleagues. Filmmakers Subhash Ghai, Sajid Khan, Rajat Kapoor and actor Alok Nath are among those who have been accused of sexual misconduct.