Functions and Responsibilities of the "Women Cell"

With the enactment of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention prohibition and Redressal) act 2013, the institute is required to take various steps and measures as stipulated in the Act to provide for safe working environment and also to promote gender sensitization on the campus. In order to institutionalize such steps and measures, the Women's Cell is henceforth entrusted with following functions and responsibilities:

1. To sensitize the community at large towards gender related issues and to take such measures as would be necessary to create gender sensitivity on the campus;
2. To conduct orientation programs for new students and employees;
3. To suggest measures for providing a safe working environment for women on the campus and to recommend actions to be taken by the institute from time to time in order to deter the commission of any acts of sexual harassment or gender discrimination in any form;
4. To organize workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing students and employees of the institute with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention prohibition and Redressal) act 2013;
5. To offer advice on available courses of action to an aggrieved women on campus if she approaches the Women Cell.
6. To perform such other functions on behalf of the institute as may be assigned to it by the Director.

The Women's cell shall meet as frequently as it may deem appropriate, but it shall mandatorily meet at least once in every six months. Before completion of the tenure, the Women's Cell shall submit a terminal report to the Director dwelling upon the important initiatives made/recommended by them. Inquiries into specific complaints shall continue to be in the exclusive domain of the Internal Complaint Committee constituted by the institute under the provisions of the aforementioned Act.

Message from Chairperson's Desk:

Women Cell at PDPM IIITDM Jabalpur has been constituted to create a conducive and harmonious environment to enable women to work with comfort, confidence and dignity. The women cell aims to bring the awareness among youth towards making a congenial environment to help their all-around growth. The Cell would work to raise awareness in the community on gender issues. Through our collaborative work, we wish to bring gender harmony to automatically eliminate not only any possibility but even a small hint of gender biasing or harassment.

Women are facing many challenges in their social and professional life. Unless and until our society including men and women understand the root cause of these issues, the situation would not change. To improve the situation men around us have to understand that women are also working here with the same zeal and deserve respect as well as right to follow their choice. The cell aims to empower women by inculcating them to make a right choice of their actions depending on the circumstance but also make them capable of coming out of any awkward situation gracefully. Efforts are required to organize some open sessions where women may feel comfortable in discussing about these issues on an open forum with their men counterpart. This would create a sense of community spirit which will encourage women to face these challenges as a team rather than an individual.

To eradicate gender biasing and to bring gender harmony, Women Cell would organize various activities such as discussions, lectures, stage plays, workshops, training programmes, health programmes, etc. Through these small efforts we wish to empower women to face the present challenges by providing tools and techniques that help to eliminate individual stress and embrace life with a renewed enthusiasm.

Personally, I believe that the youth at IIITDM Jabalpur can play an important role in bringing this harmony and I invite my students and colleagues to come forward and strengthen us in realizing this dream.