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Harassment allegations against Channi: Women commission chief threatens to go hunger strike if govt doesn’t act
Says she has not received any reply despite reminders and is being held guilty by a section of the officers for not taking action
Punjab State Commission for Women chairperson Manisha Gulati on Monday threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike if the state government fails to act on a clarification sought by her in harassment allegations by a women IAS officer against cabinet minister Charanjeet Singh Channi.
In November 2018, the IAS officer had accused Channi of harassing her even as no formal complaint was lodged in this regard.
The development comes in the wake of Channi holding a meeting with a cabinet colleague and Congress MLAs, including Navjot Singh Sidhu, over alleged mishandling of the sacrilege and police firing cases by the Amarinder Singh-led government.
“Despite several reminders, I have not received any reply from the government and now I am being held guilty by a section of the officers for not taking action. I am not answerable to the government but to the women of the state,” she said in a press conference in Chandigarh, asking the government to file a time-bound reply to a fresh communiqué sent by the commission.
“The matter can be taken up even 10 years after its occurrence. The government should know how powerful the (women) commission is. In case anything happens to me, the government will responsible,” she said.
“In 2018, I had taken suo motto action and sought clarification from the then chief secretary Karan Avtar Singh about the matter. I had sent a reminder also but there was no reply,” added Gulati.
“The CM had then given a statement that the minister has sought forgiveness. No one accuse me of being hand in glove with the minister and not taking action against him. I have never spoken to him. I will campaign in the 2022 state polls and make public aware as how women in the state are treated,” she said.
