Staff of GPO Mumbai Discuss Gender Issues Threadbare at Workplace Seminar

Q&A session by HC Patel

Government of India (GoI), the country’s largest employer with nearly 4.5 million employees in its fold, is also known to be a benevolent employer that upholds its special duties to its personnel. It is no surprise then that GoI has laid down elaborate provisions to promote gender equality in general and to prevent instances of sexual harassment in particular, at its workplaces.

Despite these provisions, gender issues do arise, and women employees many a time find themselves at the receiving end of these issues. The general reluctance to discuss the topic of Sexual Harassment, though it occasionally raises its head at government offices, adds to the challenge of eliminating it altogether.

Mumbai GPO, true to its reputation as a forward- looking institution, recently took the initiative of organising a seminar for its staff on Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace.  A large number of employees of the 1000-strong GPO attended the Seminar, which was held in an atmosphere of esprit de corps and team spirit. The Seminar progressed through screening of relevant videos, discussions and a Q&A session. 

H. C. Patel, Senior Dy. Director of the GPO led the discussions, and was supported by other Dy. Directors. There was significant attendance of the women employees. The success of the Seminar was that the participants recognised and accepted the fact that sexual harassment was a common problem faced by all staff, the prevention of which was a shared goal for all irrespective of whether they are male or female.

The Department of Posts (DoP) has a special responsibility in the fight against sexual harassment, as it has the highest rate of women employment among all the major employers within GoI. While the percentage of women employment across all units of the Central Government is only 11%,  DoP stands out, with 17.3% of its employees being women. In this context the Seminar was indeed a laudable effort, and one looks forward to other units of DoP emulating it.