Harassment of domestic helps to be brought under work place exploitation law

October 14th, 2009 BHOPAL - Domestic helps will be issued photo IDs to facilitate them a range of government services including health and financial in Madhya Pradesh. Once issued, these cards will sort of certify them as professional domestic assistants and enable them to avail of various medical services free of cost.

August 19th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Natural disasters like the 2008 floods in India leave children vulnerable to trafficking and many girls end up being "sold as brides", says a new report by a global child rights group. "Post-disaster, human trafficking has become common in the region (South Asia) as increasing manmade conflicts and natural disasters leave the already poor even more vulnerable," says the study by global child rights group ECPAT International, supported by the Body Shop International.

August 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily has said on Sunday that the law should not become an instrument of exploitation by authorities, and the government will take action to apprehend the misuse of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against homosexuals in the future. "If it has been misused earlier, it can be misused in future as well.

July 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Defence Minister A K Antony today informed the Rajya Sabha that in the last five years 11 cases of sexual harassment have been reported in the armed forces. Antony said: "During the last five years, 11 cases relating to sexual harassment have been reported in the armed forces." He said that necessary investigations have been instituted in all these cases and punishments have been awarded wherever charges have been proved.

July 4th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Saturday launched a skill development programme to train about 100,000 domestic workers here in a variety of subjects ranging from personal hygiene to first-aid. The initiative would also educate such workers about intra-personal communication skills, components of urban meals, management of urban kitchens, serving cooked food in formal environment and maintaining kitchen gardens.

May 9th, 2009 PANAJI - Dissatisfied with the progress made by Goa University's (GU) probe into a molestation and sexual harassment case filed by some students against their teacher, the Goa State Commission for Women (GSCW) has taken suo moto cognizance and will investigate the complaint, an official said here Saturday. Speaking to IANS, GSCW chairperson Pramod Salgaonkar said that the commission was not happy with the slow pace at which the sexual harassment committee of the GU was handling the complaint.

April 14th, 2009 RAIPUR - 'Save our girl children from the clutches of traffickers, and then ask for votes', is what angry villagers of three Chhattisgarh constituencies are telling candidates when they come canvassing for votes. Hundreds of poor families of three Lok Sabha constituencies - Surguja, Korba and Raigarh - want to know why the authorities are not able to check the rising human trafficking cases in their area.

April 13th, 2009 SHIMLA - The Rajendra Prasad Medical College in Himachal Pradesh's Tanda town was once again in the news Monday after one of its senior faculty members was suspended on charges of sexual harassment of a girl student, an official said. 'R.S. Yadav (of the department of biochemistry) was placed under suspension by the state government on the basis of charges levelled against him by a girl student,' Principal Secretary (health) Deepak Sanan told IANS.

April 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian fishermen inadvertently crossing over into Sri Lanka's territorial waters are sometimes subjected to harassment by the Sri Lankan Navy, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said here Sunday. He also said killing fishermen is not acceptable in any circumstances.

March 26th, 2009 NOIDA - A 30-year-old woman guard with a security agency here has alleged sexual harassment by a senior officer in the company. But the police say it is the firm that has slapped a case against her.

March 8th, 2009 NEW DELHI - More and more Indian women are breaking the glass ceiling and marching ahead in male dominated fields like driving taxis or becoming disc jockeys, but there are still thousands of women still struggling for their basic rights -- not able to own land or fighting against domestic violence. For instance, according to international NGO Action Aid, women farmers produce 60-80 percent of the agricultural produce in India and other developing countries.

February 17th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Delhi Police may take action against people who are reluctant to get their servants verified and are also planning to put the onus of getting the verification done on the servants, Delhi Police chief Y.S. Dadwal said Wednesday.

January 27th, 2009 BANGALORE - The phone that rings when you dial 1090 has hardly stopped ringing in the past nearly 20 days. It is the Elders Helpline, a service to address issues concerning senior citizens of Bangalore.

January 5th, 2009 HYDERABAD - Caught in a life threatening situation, facing terror, affected by or witness to a crime or stranded in a traffic jam in Hyderabad? Simply send an SMS to the police and help will reach you shortly. The city police has launched the new facility, which helps citizens to quickly access the police in case of any emergency.

January 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite frequent incidents of crime committed by domestic helps in the capital, Delhiites have not learnt a lesson; 64 percent of the domestic helps continue to be unregistered, Delhi Police Commissioner Y.S Dadwal said Friday. In a door-to-door survey conducted by Delhi Police last year covering 912,547 households having 111,484 servants, it was found that only 41,046 servants were verified.