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Journalism of Courage
Protests, almost 24 by 7, in Jantar Mantar for 11 days and counting; knocking on the door of the Supreme Court to get FIRs filed; repeated appeals to fellow sportspersons to lend their weight to their complaints of sexual harassment even as the prime accused digs his heels in.
On paper, and, by law, this didn’t have to happen.
Indeed, the Government’s MC Mary Kom-headed panel that looked into allegations of sexual harassment by some of the nation’s top wrestlers against Wrestling Federation of India chief BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, red-flagged this as a “major finding”: there was no Internal Complaints Committee (ICC), as mandated by the 2013 Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Act.
The wrestling body isn’t the only one violating the law.
As many as 16 of the 30 national sports federations — of disciplines in which India has participated in the 2018 Asian Games, Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and last year’s Commonwealth Games — do not meet this mandatory compliance, an investigation by The Indian Express has revealed. And this, when there has been a record uptick in women’s participation in sports. Their number in the Khelo India Games, an index of this growing trend, showed a 161 per cent increase from 2018 to 2020.
The ICC was designed to be the first port of call for any grievance under the PoSH Act, a key element needed to create a safe workplace environment for women. As per the law, it needs to have a minimum of four members – at least half of them women – of whom one shall be an external member, preferably from an NGO or an association that works for women’s empowerment or a person familiar with issues related to sexual harassment, like a lawyer.
The Indian Express reviewed official declarations of all 30 federations and reached out to their office-bearers to find that five federations, including wrestling, don’t even have an ICC; four don’t have the stipulated number of members; another six lacked the mandatory external member and one federation had two panels but none had an independent member.
The status of ICC in each and the response of the federation:
1. Gymnastics Federation of India
Status: No ICC; there’s an “investigation committee” that has two women in a six-member panel, no external member.
Comment: “We have an investigation committee for all issues. We have been following the guidelines of the world body. Until a month ago, there was no committee at all but now we have one,” said Sudhir Mital, president.
2. Table Tennis Federation of India
Status: No ICC
Comment: “Since the new administration has just taken over a few months ago, we are going through legal procedures and an ICC will be in place in a month’s time,” said Kamlesh Mehta, secretary general.
3. Handball Federation of India
Status: No ICC
Comment: “Our elections took place last August on the basis of a Delhi High Court order. We have our AGM on May 20 and a committee will be in place after that,” said Pritpal Singh Saluja, general secretary
4. Wrestling Federation of India
Status: No ICC
After the current stand-off, the government has handed over the federation’s day-to-day affairs to an IOA-appointed ad-hoc committee last week.
5. Volleyball Federation of India
Status: No ICC
Comment: “If there are cases of sexual harassment, those will be raised at the federation’s general body meeting. There’s no separate committee. Any matter gets raised at the general body meeting and then all members will decide on what has to be done.” – Anil Choudhary, secretary general
6. Judo Federation of India (run by an administrator)
Status: ICC has only three members
Quote: “We are in the process of appointing a fourth member, who will also be an independent expert. It will be done in the coming days,” said an official who did not wish to be named.
7. Squash Rackets Federation of India
Status: ICC has only three members
Comment: “We have our annual meeting in a couple of weeks and we will have the fourth member in the committee,” said Cyrus Poncha, general secretary
8. Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India (run by an administrator)
Status: The ICC has only two members
Comment: “We have a judge and a coach right now. If we receive a complaint, we add two more members to the committee,” said an official who did not wish to be named.
9. Billiards & Snooker Federation of India
Status: The ICC has only three members
Comment: “We will look into it and have it rectified,” said S Balasubramaniam, president
10. Badminton Association of India
Status: ICC has no external member (Manjusha Kanwar is considered as both external and internal member)
Comment: “Manjusha Kanwar is not a part of the BAI. But she’s part of the Selection Committee of the BAI. So, she fits the criteria laid in place that only a female member of the organisation can head the ICC,” said Sanjay Mishra, secretary general
11. Archery Association of India
Status: ICC has no external member
Comment: “We preferred to pick top people from the sport because it’s a very serious committee. Right now, we have not added an external member, but we don’t have an issue adding one,” said Pramod Chandurkar, secretary general.
12. Basketball Federation of India
Status: ICC has no external member. As per the federation, former player Anitha Paul Durai doubles up as an independent member on the committee. However, as per rules the member should be a social worker with at least five years of experience. The member can be from a non-governmental organisation, an association that works for women’s empowerment or someone who is familiar with issues related to sexual harassment, like lawyers.
Comment: “Our interpretation of the rule is that the independent member should not be a part of the organisation. Anitha is not a part and parcel of the national federation or any state unit. She is a Padam Shri, a former captain and because of the sports quota, is working with Railways. Hence, in our opinion, we meet the criteria,” said Chander Mukhi Sharma, secretary general.
13. Indian Triathlon Federation
Status: ICC has no external member
Comment: Despite repeated calls, president Surekha Ramachandran was unavailable for comment. Vice President Rakesh Gupta said there was a fourth member, although he didn’t name the member.
14. Yachting Association of India
Status: ICC has no external member
Comment: “As per our policy, an external member, who will be a lady, will be co-opted to the committee as and when required,” said Captain Jitendra Dixit, Joint Secretary
15. Indian Kayaking and Canoeing Association
Status: ICC has no external member
Comment: “We have a panel of advocates. As required, we include them in the committee and get their legal opinion. For a federation like ours that runs on a tight budget, this is also financially viable option,” said Prashant Kushwaha, President
16. Weightlifting Federation of India
Status: It has two committees: a three-member ICC and a four-member Prevention of Sexual Harassment Committee but neither has an external, independent member.
Comment: “Sabina Yadav is president of UP weightlifting. Pal Singh Sandhu is a Dronacharya Awardee, Anande Gowda is from the Karnataka Federation and the General Secretary of the national body. (The three are PoSH committee members). Everyone is from within the sport, there’s no outsider. In case we get a complaint, it will be sent to both committees,” said Naresh Sharma, treasurer
Incidentally, The Bowling Federation of India doesn’t have any publicly available record of an ICC or any similar mechanism. When asked about this, its secretary general Lokinder Singh claimed it had one but did not provide any details.
