The Madras High Court on Wednesday directed Kalakshetra Foundation to frame a policy against gender discrimination and sexual harassment of staff as well as students of colleges and schools run by it in Chennai, and ordered that the complaints committee related to schools must have parents as well as teachers’ representatives in it.
Justice M. Dhandapani passed the interim orders on a writ petition filed by seven students of the Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts run by the foundation. Representing them, Senior Counsel R. Vaigai had insisted upon the formulation of a proper safety policy and a robust mechanism to address complaints regarding sexual and other kinds of harassment.
At the end of last month, students of Kalakshetra Foundation had staged a demonstration demanding action against certain faculty members who, they said, had been sexually harassing students. Police action followed, and one faculty member was eventually arrested.
