What is Sexual Harassment?

According the Supreme Court order, Sexual harassment is any unwelcome words or actions of sexual nature as.

• Physical contact and advances
• Demand or request for sexual favours
• Sexually coloured remarks
• Display of pornography
• Any other unwelcome physical, verbal and non – verbal conduct of a sexual nature

Nominated Members of Dr. BVP, RMC, Internal Complaints Committee.

Persuent to Supreme Court guidelines, Dr BVP, RMC, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences is committed to a workplace free of Sexual Harassment and has adopted a policy for prevention of sexual harassment at workplace and established the Internal Complaints Committee.

Nominated Members of Dr. BVP, RMC, Internal Complaints Committee.

Role	Name & Designation
Chairman	Dr. Deepika Bhalerao, Professor, Department of Microbiology
Secretary	Dr. Smita Mokal, Professor, Department of Physiology
Member	Dr. J M Farooqui, Professor, Department of Forensic Medicine
Member	Dr. Sonali Tambe, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology
External Member	Mukesh Dighe, Legal Advisor, Pravara Medical Trust

Functions of the committee

The office of the cell is an educational resource as well as complaint centre for the members of the faculty, staff and students of the college of Dr. BVP, RMC, Loni. Its mandate is

• To provide a neutral, confidential and supportive environment for members of the college who may have been or may feel sexually harassed.
• To advice complainants of the informal and formal means of resolution as specified by the cell.
• To ensure the fair and timely resolution of all sexual harassment related complaints.
• To provide information regarding counselling and support services in the college.
• To ensure that students, faculty and staff are provided with current and comprehensive materials on sexual harassment and assault; Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace.
• To promote awareness about sexual harassment through educational initiatives that encourages and fosters a respectful and safe campus environment.

The cell seeks to inform all concerned of their right, a respectful work and learning environment. It believes that if we practice respect, exercise empathy in our interactions with others so that we do not hurt anyone through what we say or do then we can create a college that is free of sexual harassment. Simple respect for all on the campus community is thus the focus.

The cell seeks to achieve these goals through:

Dissemination of Information - Display of printed materials & posters.

Awareness Workshops - about sexual harassment for faculty, non – teaching staff and students. The aim is to develop non-threatening and non – intimidating atmosphere of mutual learning.

Counseling - Confidential counseling service is an important service as it provides a safe space to speak about the incident and how it has affected the victim because sexual harassment cases are rarely reported and is a sensitive issue.

Territorial/Physical Scope:

• The entire college premises, including buildings, land, classrooms, libraries, laboratories, hostels, dining halls, canteens, student centers, parking areas, and parks.
• All educational events like Internship (RH and PHC under the institute), field trips that are officially approved and recruited by the official authorities of the college.

Extended Scope and Personnel:

• Covered Individuals: The ICC covers complaints from employees (teaching and non-teaching) regardless of whether they are full-time, part-time or visiting teaching staff, students and even visitors to the campus.
• Respondent: The respondent/offender shall be the employee of the same institute.

The Complaint Mechanism (Procedure to file / report a complaint):

• The complainant will have to submit a written and signed complaint addressed to the Chairman / Secretary of the cell.
• The cell will call complainant for a personal meeting. Usually within a week from the submission of the written complaint.
• The members of the cell will discuss the complaint.
• If the case falls outside the purview of the cell, the complainant will be informed about the same by the appropriate authority.
• If the case comes under the purview of the call, an enquiry committee will be set up. The committee will submit a report and recommend the nature of action to be taken at the earliest by the appropriate authority.
• The scope of acceptance of complaint will be during educational geographic territory or educational/ work related transaction of any stakeholder of Dr. BVP, RMC Loni.
• The complaint can be filled on the authorized email ID-icc.dbvprmc@pmtpims.org or on the online portal on the official website.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

Key Timelines

• Filing Complaint: Within 3 months from the date of the incident (or 3 months from the last incident in a series). The IC may extend this by another 3 months if there are valid reasons recorded in writing.
• Notice to complainant: IC must send the notice to complainant to submit the written complaint with all the valid proof within a time frame of 48 hours after filing complaint.
• Notice to Respondent: The IC must send a copy of the complaint to the respondent as per the statutory requirement and maximum within a period of 7 working days.
• Inquiry Duration: The IC will complete the inquiry within a duration of 1 month from the receipt of the complaint received with a maximum of 90 days as per the nature of the complaint.
• Report Submission: The IC must submit the inquiry report to the employer/district officer within 10 days of completing the inquiry.
• Action on Report: The employer must act on the recommendations within 60 days of receiving the report.
• Appeal: Either party can file an appeal within 90 days of the recommendations.

Key Considerations:

• Extension: The 90-day inquiry period is meant to ensure promptness, but in certain cases, courts have held that simply crossing this timeline does not automatically invalidate the inquiry.
• Extension justification: If an inquiry exceeds 90 days, the IC should record the reasons for the delay.
• Completion: Inquiry completion includes issuing the final report and recommendations to both parties.

Penalties for Students

If a student is found guilty of sexual harassment, the ICC may recommend the following, depending on the severity of the offense:

• Warning or Reprimand: A formal warning.
• Suspension: Suspension from college for a specific period.
• Debarment: Restrictions from appearing in examinations.
• Restriction of Privileges: Withholding access to the library, scholarships or ID cards.
• Rustication/Expulsion: Permanent removal from the college rolls and denial of readmission.
• Reformative Punishment: Mandatory counseling or community service

All the above penalties for the students will be applied as per PIMS (DU) rules.

Penalties for Employees (Staff/Faculty)

If an employee is found guilty, the penalties are governed by the rules and regulation of the institutional authorities.

Complaint Registration

The individuals / victims who seek to resolve the complaints of sexual harassment can also now contact through the web – page and lodge their complaints through the online complaint registration form.

The individuals/ victim also can register their complaints of sexual harassment / grievance in the Complaints Register, in the Principal Office.

Online Complaint Registration form