Blitz Bureau
A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court recently directed the West Bengal Government to form a “review team” on the safety of women at the workplace especially those engaged in night duty.
The Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Bivas Pattanayak gave the direction acting on public interest litigation in the matter amid the event of a ghastly rape and murder of a woman junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata within the hospital premises last year.
In the petition, the petitioners especially pointed out the scenario in the Information Technology sector, which operates on a 24×7 basis with many women employees engaged in night duty. Acting on that petition, the Bench directed the state Home Department to form a “review team” to review the aspects of the safety of women in the workplace with special emphasis on women who are engaged in night duty.
It also directed the state Home Department to formulate a draft notice on this proposed “review team” and asked the state home secretary to act on it. The “review team” will examine the existing safety measures adopted on this count, identify the lapses in the system and suggest correct measures on this count, it said.
