1 April 2026·PIB

Sexual Harassment Electronic Box (SHe-Box) Portal — a digital governance initiative for effective implementation of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013

In this note

1. At a Glance

Sexual Harassment Electronic Box (SHe-Box) is a centralised online portal of the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) for filing, forwarding and tracking workplace sexual harassment complaints under the PoSH Act, 2013 [1][2].
Relaunched in upgraded form on 29 August 2024 as a single-window, multilingual repository of all Internal Committees (ICs) and Local Committees (LCs) in India [1][2].
Examinable as a digital-governance + women safety convergence: ministry, statutory base, committee architecture and current onboarding numbers [1].

PIB release dated 1 April 2026 flagged that onboarding crossed 1.61 lakh workplaces, with 68,460 ICs and 777 district-level LCs updated as on 27 March 2026 [1].
MWCD held a National Conference on Safety of Women at Workplace (SHe-Box) to push compliance under the PoSH Act [2].

1997: Supreme Court's Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan guidelines first defined employer obligations on workplace sexual harassment [2].
2013: Parliament enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (PoSH Act) [1][2].
2017: Original SHe-Box launched by then-MWCD Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi as an online complaint box, initially for central government employees, later expanded [2].
29 August 2024: Revamped SHe-Box portal launched by MWCD as an end-to-end integrated complaint monitoring system [1][2].

Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) [1].
Enabling statute: Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 [1].
URL: https://shebox.wcd.gov.in/ [1].
Internal Committee (IC): mandatory in every workplace with 10 or more employees [2].
Local Committee (LC): constituted by the District Officer in every district; handles complaints from establishments with < 10 employees or against the employer [2].
Complaint window: within 3 months of incident, extendable by another 3 months for valid reasons [2].
Inquiry timeline: 90 days [2].
Onboarding (as on 27.03.2026): > 1,61,000 workplaces; > 68,460 ICs; 777 LCs [1].

Social / Gender

Operationalises Article 14, 15(3), 21 guarantees in the workplace; widens redressal access for women in informal/private sectors via LCs [2].
Multilingual, confidential interface lowers barrier to reporting for non-English speakers [1].

Administrative / Governance

Creates first-ever national repository of ICs and LCs, ending blind spots about compliance with Section 4 (IC) and Section 6 (LC) of the PoSH Act [2].
Real-time tracking enables MWCD to monitor pendency and 90-day inquiry compliance centrally [1].

Legal / Constitutional

Operationalises Vishaka (1997) guidelines codified into the 2013 Act [2].
Auto-routes complaints to the correct IC/LC chosen by the complainant, reducing jurisdictional disputes [2].

Scientific / Technological

Digital governance use-case: single-window, secure, end-to-end integrated complaint monitoring with confidentiality safeguards [1].

29 Aug 2024: Revamped SHe-Box portal launched by MWCD [1].
2025: MWCD National Conference on Safety of Women at Workplace to drive employer onboarding [2].
27 Mar 2026: Onboarding tally — 1.61 lakh workplaces, 68,460 ICs, 777 LCs [1].
1 Apr 2026: PIB release reiterating SHe-Box progress as digital governance initiative [1].

SHe-Box Portal is administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (not Ministry of Labour) [1].
Enabling Act: PoSH Act, 2013 — full name Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act [1].
Revamped SHe-Box launched on 29 August 2024 [1].
Original SHe-Box launched in 2017 by Maneka Sanjay Gandhi [2].
IC mandatory for workplaces with ≥ 10 employees [2].
LC is constituted at the district level by the District Officer [2].
Statutory inquiry period: 90 days [2].
Complaint must be filed within 3 months, extendable by 3 more months [2].
Portal URL: shebox.wcd.gov.in [1].
As on 27.03.2026: 777 LCs uploaded — one near-fact for date/number MCQs [1].
PoSH Act, 2013 codified Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997) guidelines [2].
SHe-Box is a multilingual, single-window complaint platform [1].

GS-II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections (women); mechanisms, laws, institutions for the protection of women; e-Governance applications.
GS-I: Role of women and women's organisations; social empowerment.
Possible question stems: 1. "Critically examine the role of digital governance tools such as the SHe-Box portal in operationalising the PoSH Act, 2013." 2. "Discuss how institutional mechanisms — Internal Committees, Local Committees and SHe-Box — together address workplace sexual harassment in India." 3. "From Vishaka Guidelines to SHe-Box: trace the evolution of India's legal architecture against workplace sexual harassment."

Vishaka Guidelines, 1997 — judicial origin of the framework.
PoSH Act, 2013 — full statutory architecture (Sections 4, 6, 9, 26).
Mission Shakti (Sambal + Samarthya) — umbrella women safety scheme of MWCD.
Nirbhaya Fund, 2013 — financing women safety initiatives.
One Stop Centres (Sakhi) — physical complement to SHe-Box.
CPGRAMS — comparator grievance redressal portal.
Article 15(3) & DPSP Article 39 — constitutional basis for protective discrimination.
National Commission for Women (NCW) — overlapping complaint jurisdiction.

Wrong ministry: SHe-Box is under MWCD, not Ministry of Labour & Employment or Home Affairs [1].
Conflating dates: the upgraded portal is from Aug 2024; the original was 2017 [1][2].
IC vs LC: IC is workplace-level (≥10 employees), LC is district-level by District Officer (<10 employees or complaint against employer) [2].
The PoSH Act covers only women, not a gender-neutral statute — often misstated.
Inquiry timeline is 90 days, not 60 or 180 [2].