High Court directs state to form ‘review team’ for women workplace safety

Kolkata: A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court has directed the state government to form a “review team” on the safety of women at the workplace, especially those engaged in night duty.

The Division Bench of Calcutta High Court’s Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Bivas Pattanayak gave the direction during the hearing of a PIL on the matter. In the petition, the petitioners especially pointed out the scenario in the Information Technology sector which operates on a 24x7 basis with many women employees engaged in night duty. The Division Bench directed the Home department to form a “review team” to review the aspects of the safety of women in the workplace with special emphasis on women who are engaged in night duty.

The court directed formulating a draft notice on this proposed “review team” and asked the state home secretary to act on it.

Such a review team will examine the existing safety measures adopted on this count, identify the lapses in the system and suggest correct measures for the same.

Incidentally, the state government had come about with a 17-point notification on the safety of women in the workplace under the name “Raatri Saathi” following the rape and murder of the junior doctor at the state-run RG Kar Medical College & Hospital on August 9, 2024.

However, in that notification, the state government suggested avoiding allotment of night duty for women as far as possible which drew strong criticisms from different sections of the society. The proposal also attracted criticisms from the Supreme Court.