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Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Zubin Irani has informed the Parliament at its ongoing winter session that the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) extends "protection to women regardless of their work status and that the definition of "workplace" in the Act extends to educational institutions as well."

Members of Parliament (MPs) Shri Ravindra Kushwaha and Shri Ravi Kishan had posed the following questions to the Minister of Women and Child Development:

 (a) whether the National Commission for Women (NCW) has proposed amendment so that educational institutions be recognized as "workplace" and brought under the ambit of the Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act;

(b) if so, the details thereof; and

(c) the steps taken or to be taken by the Government in this regard?

“The Government has enacted ‘The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013’ (SH Act) with the aim to provide safe and secure work environment to women irrespective of their work status. Section 2(o) of the SH Act defines ‘workplace’ which includes inter alia educational institutions within its ambit. Hence, no such specific amendment has been proposed by the National Commission for Women,” Irani answered.