RIGHTS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN 7.5 The Commission has been informed that, following that meeting, the Department of Women and Child Development, Government of India has, through an Order dated 8 June 2001, constituted a Committee to monitor the implementation of the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the Vishaka judgement. 7.6 In a further step to deal with sexual harassment at the work-place, the Chairman of the Commission convened a meeting on 25 April 2001 to consider how universities and educational institutions could implement the guidelines and norms prescribed by the Supreme Court in the Vishaka judgement. The meeting was attended by the Secretary, Department of Secondary and Higher Education and the Secretary, Department of Elementary Education and Literacy of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India; Chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC); Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE); Principal Secretary, Directorate of Education, NCT of Delhi; selected Senior Advocates and NGO representatives. 7.7 It was agreed in the meeting that the Chairman UGC would write to the Vice- Chancellors of universities across the country informing them that they were hound, by the judgement to set up Complaints Committees. The Vice-Chancellors would also be asked to keep the UGC informed about the working of the Committees, failing which adverse inference would be drawn regarding their compliance with the Apex Court's guidelines. The meeting also recommended that the setting-up of a complaints mechanism should be made a condition precedent for the granting of assistance to all Aided and Affiliated schools by the CBSE. The UGC and CBSE were requested to instruct all educational institutions to make periodic reviews of the action taken by them in respect of the setting-up of complaints mechanisms. The meeting also directed that a Nodal Officer should be appointed in every educational institution as the person who could readily be contacted for information/suggestions relating to complaints received. The meeting reiterated that it should be made mandatory for all educational institutions to send their Action Taken/Status Reports to the UGC and CBSE for the purpose of monitoring. Another decision taken at the meeting was that the detailed guidelines prepared by the Jawaharlal Nehru University in respect of sexual harassment should be examined by the UGC to see if they could be replicated for other universities as well. It was, in addition, felt that a Helpline should be established for women and girls in their work places and that this should be supported by non-governmental organisations, along the lines of the Helpline established for students in the capital. ANNUAL REPORT 2001 -2002 j 67