Hyderabad(May, 19) : Telangana Home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali launched ‘SAHAS’ at the ITC Kakatiya, in the presence of Anjani Kumar-IPS, DGP-Telangana State, Shikha Goel-IPS, Addl. DGP Women Safety Wing, Telangana Police, Manasa Varanasi (Femina Miss India), and Senior Industry Body representatives.
Sahas, which, means “Courage,” is a program that aims to strengthen the ecosystem of support for women who face workplace sexual harassment. Under the initiative, the Sahas Microsite, Sahas Sathi Chatbot, Sahas Whatsapp Number, Forum and online support facilities were launched.
Speaking on the occasion, Mohammed Mahmood Ali, Minister for Home, stated that Telangana, among the youngest states in the country, continues to lead the way in terms of groundbreaking initiatives involving government industry partnerships. Sahas programme, he said, is another brilliant example of the same. He lauded the efforts of the State Police in working hard to reduce crime in the State, whilst striving to approach all relevant issues in a humane manner.
Anjani Kumar IPS, DGP Telangana, lauded the Sahas initiative and called it natural next step towards reducing vulnerabilities in workplaces. Telangana, on a conservative estimate, will have over 3LacK employers and over time, it will be the endeavor of Sahas team to ensure that all employers are connected and sensitized through awareness and training activities. He also asked the Sahas Steering Committee to ensure roll out of a massive Awareness cum Training campaign among their stakeholders, including affiliate companies, and government departments as well.
Shikha Goel IPS, Addl. DGP Women Safety Wing, who was instrumental in the conceptualization and implementation of Sahas, addressing the audience, stated that the state has the largest percentage of working women in the country, and this could only be possible due to the positive atmosphere employers of Telangana, big and small, have created over time. She also stated that “SAHAS, is a first of its kind initiative in the country, involving a collaboration between industry bodies and a State Police Force, (it) is our commitment to preparing our current and future generation of working women to a supporting and sensitive workplace.”
Speaking on behalf of all the Industry Bodies, C. Shekar Reddy, Chairman- CII & IWN stated that in his long experience as an entrepreneur and an employer, he believed that every employer in Telangana was passionate about the safety and well being of the women workforce. Under Sahas initiative, they will be benefited by the support extended to them through legal and training experts in creation of an enabling ecosystem and strengthening of existing support channels in their organizations.
Among the other guests present were, Adv. Purnima Kamble, an expert on the POSH Act, Adv. Dr. Deepa Nair, a legal consultant and a national trainer for the POSH Act, Lalitha Akundi faculty at the Centre for Organization Development and other experts from various sectors.
The other guests from the Industry, and Trade Bodies included, V. Rajashekar Reddy representing CREDAI, Anil Agarwal of FTCCI, Ramakrishna Lingireddy from HYSEA, Rashida Adenwala from TiE, Bharani Kumar Aroll, President & CEO, Tech Triad Inc andMr. T Muralidharan CMD of TMI Group.
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