Lok Sabha Question No. 1170 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-02-06
Subject: Implementation of POSH Act in Government Departments
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Thiru Dr. S Jagathratchakan

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF WOMEN & CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN- STARRED QUESTION NO: 1170

TO BE ANSWERED ON 06.02.2026

## IMPLEMENTATION OF POSH ACT IN GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS

## 1170:  SHRI S JAGATHRATCHAKAN:

Will the Minister of Women and Child Development be pleased to state:

- (a) whether, in light of the Supreme Court's directions issued in December 2024 mandating all Government Departments, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)/institutions to constitute  Internal  Complaints  Committees  (ICCs)  and  establish  SheBox  portals, protection  under  the  POSH  Act  has  been  explicitly  extended  to  interns,  trainees, apprentices and outsourced personnel working under these entities;
- (b)       if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  all  such  Ministries/Departments/PSUs  have  ensured  the  inclusion  of  these categories of personnel within the jurisdiction of their ICCs across headquarters, regional offices, project sites and field units, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)     the details of the mechanism in place to verify compliance/track complaints specifically from interns,  trainees  and  outsourced  women  workers  along  with  action  taken  by  the Government?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI ANNPURNA DEVI)

(a)  to  (d):        The  Sexual  Harassment  of  Women  at  Workplace  (Prevention,  Prohibition  and Redressal) Act, 2013 (SH Act) aims to prevent sexual harassment at the workplace and ensure a safe,  secure  and  inclusive  environment  for  women  across  all  sectors.  It  covers  all  women, regardless of age or employment status and extends to organized and unorganized sectors in both public and private workplaces and also includes domestic workers.

As per the Act, the Central Government is Appropriate Government in respect of the workplaces established, owned, controlled or wholly or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly  by  the  Central  Government.  Similarly,  the  State  Government  is  the  Appropriate Government in respect of the workplaces established, owned, controlled or wholly or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by them.  Further, the State Government is the Appropriate Government for all other workplaces falling/ working within their jurisdiction (other than those which are under the domain of Central Government).

The following definitions enshrined in the SH Act, 2013 provides that the Act is unequivocally applicable to all women, irrespective of sector, employment status or nature of work.

Section 2(a) of the Act defines "aggrieved woman" as any woman, of any age, whether employed or not, who alleges she has been subjected to sexual harassment at the workplace. This broad definition ensures that any woman present at a workplace regardless of her role is covered under the ambit of the Act.

Also, Section 2(f) defines term "employee" as persons employed on regular, temporary, ad hoc, or daily wage basis, either directly or through an agent, including volunteers or trainees. This includes contractual  workers,  apprentices,  trainees,  consultants  and  even  unpaid  interns.  The  definition ensures that economic dependency on the employer/ in-charge/ owner of a workplace is not a precondition for protection.

The Supreme Court in the matter of Aureliano Fernandes v/s State of Goa and Ors. (M.A Dy. No. 22553 of 2023 in Civil Appeal No. 2482 of 2014) has emphasized the importance of implementing the  SH  Act  in  letter  and  spirit  and  issued  a  series  of  directives  in  the  matter  for  effective implementation  of  the  Act.  The  Court  directed  constitution  of  Internal  Committees  in  all workplaces with more than 10 employees and Local Committees at district level.

Supreme Court vide Order dated 03 rd December, 2024, directed that the Chief Secretaries of each State  shall  direct  the  Deputy  Commissioners,  District  Magistrates  or  Additional  District Magistrates, Collector or Deputy Collector of each district to survey the number of organisations, both public sector as well as private, within the district, with respect to constitution of IC. The District Officers were directed to upload the requisite details for the effective implementation of Sections 4 and 6 of the Act in the matter of constitution of the Internal Complaints Committee in a work place by every employer as well as the Local Committee which has been constituted and upload the details to the She-Box which has been instituted by the Union of India.

Hon'ble Supreme Court vide subsequent orders dated 12 th August, 2025 and 06 th January, 2026, further  directed  the  District  Officers  to  conduct  the  survey  with  the  assistance  of  the  Labour Commissioners in the District and the Chief Labour Commissioner of the State and the States to ensure that the data that has already been collected is on-boarded on the SHe-Box portal, created by the Ministry of WCD.

With a view to securing robust and transparent implementation of the SH Act, 2013, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD) launched the Sexual Harassment electronic Box (SHe-Box) Portal (https://shebox.wcd.gov.in/) on 29th August 2024 as a transformative digital governance  initiative.  To  ensure  compliance  across  all  sectors  including  all  Government Departments, Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs)/institutions, Ministry WCD has issued letters and advisories to  all  Central  Ministries/  Departments  and  States/  UTs  in  this  regard  to  ensure onboarding and updation of IC details on portal.

So far, over 91250 Government Departments/ offices at Central, State, district and sub-district level have onboarded the portal and out of which, 36775 have updated their IC details. To expedite the updation, the Ministry follows up with all stakeholders at Central, State and district level.

The Ministry has also taken systematic measures to expedite the updation of necessary details on Portal, including -

(a) Automated Notifications :  Regular  reminder  messages,  SMS  alerts,  and  emails  are  sent  to designated Nodal Officers to accelerate the updation process;

(b) Freeze Messages :  Escalation  notifications  are  issued  on  Dashboards of Nodal Officers to ensure priority attention to pending tasks;

(c) Technical Assistance: Dedicated technical support teams are stationed to address technical challenges  faced  by  various  Central  Ministries,  Departments  and  Private  entities  during  the onboarding process.

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