Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 12, 2018)

A day after the Producers Guild of India set up a special committee to address harassment at the workplace within the industry, the Screenwriters Association (SWA) is following suit. Mirror has learnt that the association has formed an internal committee to deal with the issue.

It is chaired by filmmaker Ketki Pandit (above), who has previously headed a similar committee at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) while she was Course Head for screenplay-writing.

“The elections were held on September 30 and the decision to form an internal committee to address sexual harassment was taken by the elected members of the SWA. We are formulating policies to safeguard our employees and members while also committing to support them in every way,” she informs.

Screenwriters Atika Chohan, Bikas Ranjan Mishra, Ishita Moitra, Jyoti Kapoor and filmmaker Sridhar Rangayan are a part of the committee. Dr Anagha Sarpotdar is the external member. “The idea is to not just protect women but also have a gender-neutral policy where we will also look into harassment against men, women and the LGBTQ community,” Pandit adds.

Writer-filmmaker Vinta Nanda (right), who recently shared her #MeToo story involving Alok Nath, recently reached out to the SWA seeking guidance. “We have to maintain confidentiality on the complaints, so I can’t share details, but we are drafting a response to her complaint. We will have a preliminary interview with Vinta ji to understand her case better,” Ketki signs off.