Internal Committee
Also called: IC, Internal Complaints Committee · Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
An Internal Committee is a body that hears complaints of sexual harassment at work. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013 (POSH) requires one at every workplace with 10 or more employees. A senior woman employee heads it, at least half its members must be women, and one member comes from outside, such as an NGO. It must finish an inquiry within 90 days. The POSH Act grew out of the Vishaka guidelines (1997).
Example
A woman employee at a 50-person firm complains about a colleague's harassment. The firm's Internal Committee inquires and recommends action. In Aureliano Fernandes (2023), the Supreme Court ordered that such committees be set up everywhere.
Don't confuse with
- Local Committee: formed at district level. It handles complaints from workplaces with fewer than 10 employees and from the informal sector.
Related concepts
- Equal Remuneration Act 1976
- Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013
- Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017
- Babita Puniya case
- Dowry Prohibition Act 1961
- Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005
- Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021
- Justice Verma Committee (2013)
- Nirbhaya Fund