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NCW finds Gill, DG (news) guilty of gender-bias

The National Commission for Women today said the action and decisions of Prasar Bharati chief S S Gill and director general (news), Doordarshan, Harish Awasthi, in removing six women newsreaders were ''arbitrary and capricious'', and smacked of ''gender discrimination''.

NCW chairperson Mohini Giri said the Commission's report had been sent to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj for further action.

The Commission had conducted an inquiry into the matter following a complaint by newsreaders Salma Sultan and Kaveri Mukherjee against their removal from primetime news bulletins a few months ago.

NCW member Padma Seth, who constituted the inquiry committee along with her colleague Syeda Hamid, said both Gill and Awasthi, who appeared before the Commission, could not satisfactorily explain if there is any policy laid down for recruitment and removal of staff including ''casuals'' in Doordarshan.

''Every expression, decision and action of the officials seems arbitrary and capricious in as far as the two officers have nothing to produce by way of policy/guidelines on decision making rules and regulations for appointments/removals, terms and conditions of service etc,'' the four-page ruling of the NCW said.

The Commission added that the officials had not been able to convince it as to why women employees alone were deprived of the primetime while the men employees have been retained, whereas the women employees were on equal footing with their male counterparts.

''No complaints have been received either from the public or the department about their performance. Hence the Commission is of the view that there is gender-bias and discrimination against women. This discriminatory treatment and the strong views expressed against women are anachronistic and smack of feudal psyche,'' it said.

While releasing the Commission's report at a press conference in New Delhi, Mohini Giri said its recommendations were binding on the government. Any failure to implement these would have to be ''satisfactorily explained'' to the Commission, she added.

The NCW has the powers of a civil court and can summon persons and record evidence, Padma Seth added.

Stressing that autonomy did not mean autocratic functioning, the NCW said it was noteworthy that the national broadcaster did not have any laid down policy for recruitment and removal of news readers.

While the officials claimed that decisions regarding prime time news readers were a ''purely administrative'' matter, they could not pinpoint who exactly decides.

The Commission's report noted that Gill's demeanour and response during his deposition before it were ''rather hostile''. Instead of recognising the existing lacunae in their administration, he openly declared that strict action needs to be taken against the complainants, it added.

The NCW also noted that in the existing hierarchical set-up in Prasar Bharati, there is no one to function as an appellate authority for the staff.

''From what has been deposed before us, it appears that the Prasar Bharati, though autonomous and a public office, is run more like a proprietary concern where the policy of hire and fire is prevalent,'' it observed.

The Commission said Gill could not explain why if the woman readers were good enough for other bulletins, they were not qualified for prime time news. ''All that he conveyed was that the staff has no right or authority to question the decisions of the superior officers,'' it noted.

Accountability and transparency are the cornerstones of democratic functioning which even the highest authority in the country cannot disown. How can these two officers then be allowed to function in an insulated fashion and devoid of these essential features treat Prasar Bharati as their personal domain and proprietary property, the Commission said.

The NCW recommended that all derogatory statements made by the two officials against the newsreaders be withdrawn. Even though the complainants were subordinates, they deserve the minimum courtesy and dignity, it said.

It said that the two regular announcers and the ''casuals'' need to be retrieved of their lost position. While the staff cannot question postings and transfers, it has a choice to express its preferences and a right to question gender-bias and discrimination.

Rationalisation of staff and streamlining administration do not necessarily mean laying off a massive number of staff at one go and humanitarian considerations cannot be totally ignored, the Commission said.

Mohini Giri said that despite the recent Supreme Court ruling on preventing sexual harassment at work place, harassment of women was on the increase and the commission was daily receiving a number of complaints from employees.

Both Kaveri Mukherjee and Salma Sultan, who were present at the press conference, said their fight was not for re-instatement alone but for the restoration of the honour and dignity of women working in Doordarshan.

The NCW will, under Giri, lead a team to Jaipur tomorrow for discussions with the Rajasthan chief minister on the growing crime rate in the state, specially against women.

Giri said the crime rate in Rajasthan had increased by 50 per cent in the past three years. These were mostly crimes against women, she added.

At tomorrow's meeting with the chief minister, the home minister, the chief secretary and other senior officials, the NCW will suggest long-term measures to bring down the crime rate, she said.

The state police specially needed to be sensitised to gender-related issues, Giri said.

Rajasthan has been in the news for incidents of gang-rape, molestation and harassment of women, and urgent steps were needed to check these, she added.

UNI

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