Managements' responsibility to protect women at workplaces: Meira Kumar

KOLKATA: Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar today said senior management of companies should take responsibility of protecting women's safety at workplaces.

"In the Parliament, I have set up a grievance cell for redressal of women's complaints. Similarly, every company or office should have similar set-ups and the senior management staff should take the responsibility of protecting women's safety at workplaces," Kumar said in response to a query on the incident in which a woman journalist of Tehelka magazine was allegedly sexually assaulted by her Editor Tarun Tejpal.

Whatever be the profession of a person, he should treat every woman with respect and dignity, she said.

The Speaker, here in the city to attend a MCC Chamber session on 'Women Empowerment', said although the country had very severe laws to protect women's dignity, nothing is done in practice.

"In theory, a woman has been given an exalted position. But in practice, she is given the lowest position. There is a threat to security, safety. She is also not empowered with education," Kumar said.

Kumar said as the first woman speaker of the country she is often quizzed whether she would be able to 'deliver the goods'. "I told them that the Speaker's job is gender-neutral - I think every job is gender-neutral."

Kumar said the root cause for the deplorable condition that the Indian women find themselves was the dowry system and called for a change in the mindset of people to give respect and dignity to women.

"Can any law be more powerful than what the society thinks ? The society must change," she said.