Maharashtra has ordered fresh inquiries into allegations of sexual harassment, religious coercion and retaliatory workplace action against women employees, after Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande raised complaints from corporate offices, IT units and public institutions during proceedings in the state legislature.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said a senior officer would examine a complaint involving a woman employee at a Spanish multinational in Talegaon Dabhade in Pune district, where Kayande alleged the employee was dismissed soon after filing a sexual harassment complaint. He said the inquiry would be completed within 15 days and action would follow against the company and the individual concerned if wrongdoing was established.
Kayande told the House that complaints had reached her from several workplaces, including multinational companies, IT firms and government-run institutions. She alleged that some women were being subjected not only to harassment but also to pressure linked to religious conversion, and said the matter required stronger government intervention rather than case-by-case handling after damage had already been done.
The government also agreed to examine allegations involving a government Industrial Training Institute in Solapur, where Kayande claimed there had been attempts to influence a group of women students. Fadnavis said a probe would be initiated immediately and action would be taken if the complaints were substantiated.
The issue has gained political weight because it follows another workplace controversy involving Tata Consultancy Services’ Nashik unit, where allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and religious coercion were investigated by the National Commission for Women. The company suspended staff after the matter came under scrutiny, while police action was taken against some employees linked to the complaint. TCS has said it does not tolerate harassment and has been cooperating with authorities.
Fadnavis told legislators that the government would form a committee of women lawmakers to review existing legal safeguards and recommend steps to strengthen workplace protection mechanisms. The proposed panel is expected to examine whether current procedures under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, are being properly implemented across corporate and institutional workplaces.
The Chief Minister said the allegations appeared to involve individual misconduct rather than institutional policy in at least one case, adding that the special investigation so far had not found company-level involvement in coercive activity. He said the company concerned had extended cooperation and had agreed to implement any safety protocols required by the state.
The POSH Act requires every workplace with 10 or more employees to constitute an Internal Committee to receive and examine sexual harassment complaints. Employers are required to provide a safe working environment, display information on complaint mechanisms, conduct awareness programmes and include complaint data in annual reporting. The law also provides for Local Committees at the district level to assist women in smaller workplaces or where complaints are against employers.
Workplace lawyers and women’s rights advocates have long argued that the law’s effectiveness depends less on its text and more on enforcement. Many employees hesitate to complain because of fear of career damage, social pressure, confidentiality breaches or retaliation by supervisors. The alleged dismissal of the woman employee in the Pune case has therefore sharpened attention on whether complainants are adequately protected during and after internal inquiries.
The latest complaints also raise a more sensitive question: whether personal belief, office hierarchy and gender vulnerability are intersecting in ways that existing workplace compliance systems are not equipped to address. Allegations of conversion pressure require careful investigation, as they carry both legal and communal implications. Officials are expected to distinguish between verified coercion, interpersonal disputes, workplace misconduct and politically amplified claims.
Opposition members are likely to demand that the proposed panel should not become a symbolic exercise. Women employees in corporate and public-sector workplaces often face opaque inquiry processes, limited access to independent legal support and pressure to settle matters internally. The challenge before the state will be to ensure that inquiries are time-bound, evidence-led and insulated from both corporate influence and political pressure.
