Dignity is not a request. It is a right.
The Internal Committee is the statutory body for prevention, prohibition and redressal of sexual harassment at Alphores. It carries out the functions assigned to it under the POSH Act while maintaining confidentiality throughout the process.
Statutory enquiry limit
Notice to respondent
Women members
External NGO member
Every sitting of the ICC is minuted and countersigned by the Presiding Officer.
What the law requires of us
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 makes an Internal Committee mandatory for every workplace with ten or more persons — including educational institutions.
The Presiding Officer must be a senior woman employee of the institution.
At least half the members must be women, with one external member from an NGO or legal background.
The committee has powers prescribed under the Act for conducting an inquiry and requiring relevant information or documents.
The inquiry should be completed within 90 days, with further action taken within the timelines prescribed under the Act.
What the ICC covers
Harassment is defined by its effect on the person experiencing it, not by the intention claimed afterwards.
Unwelcome physical contact
Any physical advance, touching or gesture of a sexual nature, including implied threats.
Demands or requests
A demand or request for sexual favours, whether direct, hinted or made conditional on a benefit.
Sexually coloured remarks
Comments, jokes, messages or written material that sexualise a person in an academic space.
Display of pornography
Sharing or displaying obscene material on campus devices, notice boards or messaging groups.
Abuse of authority
Implied promise of preferential treatment or threat of detrimental treatment in academics or work.
Hostile environment
Conduct that creates an intimidating, offensive or humiliating environment for a student or employee.
How your identity is protected
Section 16 of the POSH Act prohibits publication of the identity of the complainant, respondent, witnesses or the contents of the enquiry. Breach carries a penalty.
Sealed register
Complaints are held in a locked register accessible only to the Presiding Officer.
Closed hearings
Parties are heard separately; no audience, no recording devices.
Coded files
Case files carry a reference code, not names, in all internal correspondence.
Anti-retaliation
Any reprisal against a complainant or witness is a separate disciplinary offence.
The complaint journey, step by step
A written complaint may be filed within three months of the incident, extendable by a further three months for sufficient reason.
Filing
Six copies of a written complaint with supporting documents and names of witnesses, or assistance from a member to write it.
Conciliation (optional)
At the complainant's request only, and never on a monetary settlement. She may withdraw at any point.
Notice to respondent
Copy of the complaint served within 7 days; reply with documents due within 10 working days.
Enquiry
Both parties heard, witnesses examined, natural justice observed; no lawyer represents either side.
Report
Findings submitted to the Principal within 10 days of completion, copy provided to both parties.
Action
Recommended action implemented within 60 days; appeal available to the appropriate authority.
Interim relief the committee can order
Protection does not wait for a verdict. The ICC may recommend these measures the moment a complaint is admitted.
Transfer of duties
Reassigning the respondent's supervisory or teaching contact with the complainant.
Leave
Up to three months of leave for the complainant, over and above her regular entitlement.
Academic protection
Alternate evaluators and rescheduled assessments where the respondent had academic authority.
Counselling
Access to the campus counsellor and, where required, external professional support.
Work that happens before any complaint
The Act obliges the institution to prevent, not merely to redress. This is what that obligation looks like in practice at Alphores.
Orientation modules
Every incoming batch and every new employee completes a POSH orientation with case-based discussion in the first month.
Visible signage
Committee names, photographs and contact numbers are displayed at the entrance of every block, hostel and laboratory.
Annual sensitisation
A yearly workshop with an external resource person for faculty, staff, security personnel and student representatives.
Policy in writing
The institutional POSH policy is issued to all employees on joining and is available at the administrative office on request.
Anonymous pulse survey
A confidential climate survey each semester tells the committee what is not being reported formally.
Annual return
The statutory annual report on cases received and disposed is filed with the district officer and the Governing Body.
The measure of an institution is not whether complaints arrive.
It is whether a woman believes, before she speaks, that she will
be heard fairly.