An Air India Staffer took to Twitter on Tuesday, 29 May to say that a Senior Executive had sexually harassed her and that when she refused his advances, she was allegedly “denied privileges” that were awarded to her other colleagues.
Despite filing a complaint against the Executive with an internal committee dealing with sexual harassment, the woman, Neetta Karkhanis, said he was protected by the “Old Boy’s Club” and that no action had been taken against him.
"Sadly the AI woman's cell did nothing to act on the issue and dragged their feet on the matter,” she said.
It was only when her post became viral on social media, and journalists began to address the issue, did the Aviation Ministry finally announce that it was going to take action.
In her tweet, Karkhanis had tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu, and several journalists including Barkha Dutt and Faye D’souza among others.
She even posted pictures of the official complaint letter addressed to Suresh Prabhu.
Responding to her tweet, Barkha Dutt also called out the company and the Aviation Ministry and said that a farce was being made of Vishakha guidelines.
In the wake of the incident gaining media attention, Suresh Prabhu said that he had asked the Air India Chairman and Managing Director Rajiv Bansal to look into the issue at the earliest.
News18 reports that the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) has also taken cognizance of the sexual harassment complaint filed by Karkhanis.
Promising action, Chetan Sanghi, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Women and Child has asked the women to email details of her complaint at min-wcd@nic.in.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)