A district level consultation was organised on 24th October 2017 in Gurgaon District at the Community Hall of Carlton 4, DLF Phase 5, Gurgaon. Officials from the government departments such as the Labour department, Local Complains Committee were invited. NGOs and Unions were also invited along with the domestic workers from Harijan Basti. This consultation was seen as a platform for bridging the gap between the domestic workers, unions and the government.
The Nodal officer of Local Complains Committee represented the services that can be availed by the women. He explained that procedure in which the victim of sexual harassment can seek redressal from the LC. The procedure is receiving the complaint, reviewing the law, interviewing the two parties, reasoning, finding and recommendation and finally submitting a report within 90 days of receiving the complaint.
The discussion started with questions on how the processes and functions of the LC could be made more effective with respect to domestic workers. They are unaware of the procedures and they don’t even have access to the helpline number. How should the women collectivise then? If they are not able to speak to each other due to lack of time, they would not be able to collectivise at all. How can we bring justice to the grassroots level? How difficult it is to engage the District Collector and the Additional Collector on these issues.
