ESSO - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services

Internal Complaints Committee

In compliance with the instructions of Ministry of Women and Child Development, Sexual harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013 was enacted at INCOIS to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the prevention and the redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith and incidental thereto. Section 4 of the Act provides that every employer of a workplace shall, by an order in writing, constitute a Committee to be known as the "Internal Complaints Committee".

Composition of Internal Complaints Committee-INCOIS along with Contact details

This Committee in the INCOIS has now been re-constituted on Feb 2024 with following members:
(Office Order No. 32/2024 dated 21.03.2024 )

Complaint Procedure:

Complaint regarding Sexual Harassment against women can be made either in paper form or by sending e-mail to icc[at]incois[dot]gov[dot]in. The Act stipulates that aggrieved woman can make written complaint of sexual harassment at workplace to the ICC or to the LCC (in case a complaint is against the employer), within a period of three months from the date of incident and in case of a series of incidents, within a period of three months from the date of last incident. As per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013, in case the aggrieved woman is unable to make a complaint on account of her physical incapacity, a complaint may be filed inter alia by her relative or friend or her co-worker or an officer of the National Commission for Woman or State Women's Commission or any person who has knowledge of the incident, with the written consent of the aggrieved woman.

Ministry of Women & Child Development launched an online complaint management system titled Sexual Harassment electronic -Box (She-Box) on 24^th July, 2017 for registering complaints related to Sexual Harassment at workplace. The She-Box is an initiative to provide a platform to the women working or visiting any office of Central Government (Central Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Undertakings, Autonomous Bodies and Institutions etc.) to file complaints related to Sexual Harassment at workplace under the Sexual Harassment of Women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

Once a complaint is submitted to She-Box, it will be directly sent to the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC) of the concerned Ministry/ Department/ PSU/ Autonomous Body etc. having jurisdiction to inquire into the complaint. The She-Box also provides an opportunity to both the complainant and nodal administrative authority to monitor the progress of inquiry conducted by the ICCs.

CLICK HERE - SHe-Box - Online Complaint Management System (http://www.shebox.nic.in/)

Do's and Don't's

• Don't feel a sense of shame. Tell the harasser very clearly that you find this behavior offensive.
• Don't ignore the harassment in the hope that it will stop on its own; come forward and complain.
• Talk to somebody you trust about the harassment. It will not only give you strength, but also help others to come forward and complain.
• Keep a detailed record of all incidents related to the sexual harassment. If you feel the need to register a formal complaint later, this record will be helpful.
• Most importantly, the victim must never blame herself for the harassment.