Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary chairs meeting on sexual harassment cases in edu institutions

CHENNAI: Taking note of the rise in sexual harassment cases in educational institutions across the State, Chief Secretary N Muruganandam chaired a meeting with senior officials, including police officers and other authorities concerned, to discuss the measures that should be taken to prevent it.

There was no official statement about the details of the meeting that was held by video conference, which was attended by Higher Education Department officials and Vice Chancellors of State-run universities besides college principals.

Sources from the secretariat said Home Secretary Dheeraj Kumar, head of State police force Shankar Jiwal and Rajiv Kumar DGP (crimes against women and children) also participated in the meeting.

The meeting, which lasted for more than one hour, discussed the various measures taken to prevent sexual harassment against students in educational institution across the State.

Sources added that it was instructed that all the educational institutions should have CCTV cameras to prevent incidents of sexual harassment. In addition, the institutions were also asked to form special monitoring committees to identify the persons who sexually harass students.

The meeting also discussed taking severe action, including dismissal, of those found to be involved in sexual harassment at the institutions. Ensuring the overall safety of the female students was also deliberated in the meeting, sources added.