Women’s panel sees rise in pending cases

The number of cases pending with the Maharashtra State Commission for Women (MSCW) has been increasing over the years and there has also been a steady rise in the count of complaints related to harassment of women at workplace received by the panel, an RTI reply has revealed.

According to the reply obtained by city-based RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge, 2,917 cases were pending before the commission in 2012 which shot up to 3,573 in 2013, 5,092 in 2014 and 5,929 in 2015. The reply also revealed the women’s right panel had received only 40 complaints of sexual harassment at workplaces in 2012-13, which subsequently rose to 262 in 201314, dropped to 91 in 2014-15 and again shot up to 102 in 2015-16, he said.

Ghadge had filed an application before the MSCW seeking to know the number and nature of cases pending before it. The commission has data only till 2015.

The activist said the commission does not have data about the number of cases forwarded to police stations for further investigations.

“I also sought the number of cases which were forwarded to police stations for investigations. However, the commission said it does not maintain such records.”

Ghadge said, “The data clearly shows the commission is not performing as expected and it urgently requires more staff and resources.”

When contacted, MSCW chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar said cases piled up before the panel because it was without a chairperson for six years. –PTI