Raksha Bandhan Pledge: DITEC Director Ashwani Kumar Backs Workplace Safety for Women

In a deeply symbolic gesture this Raksha Bandhan, eleven women colleagues at the Directorate of Information Technology, Electronics & Communication (DITEC), Government of Assam, tied rakhis on the wrist of its Director, Ashwani Kumar, IAS, reaffirming a pledge of trust that transcended traditional rituals. The event, held at the DITEC office on Saturday served as a public declaration of the commitment to creating a workplace culture rooted in respect, safety, and empowerment.

For Kumar, an alumnus of IIT Madras and a 2010‑batch Assam‑Meghalaya cadre IAS officer, the moment was more than a festival celebration, it became a vow to protect the dignity of women and to challenge insensitive or harassing behaviours normalized in many offices. Under his leadership, DITEC aspires to become an environment where “every woman feels secure, valued, and confident to voice her thoughts without hesitation.”

The occasion comes against the backdrop of unsettling 2023 data highlighting widespread harassment and bullying faced by working women across sectors. Kumar emphasized that such toxic conduct persists not because it is inevitable but because too many remain silent—and that leadership must step in to end this cycle.

Observers note that even in senior government offices, disrespect and coarse language toward women are not unheard of. Kumar’s Raksha Bandhan gesture is seen as a powerful move toward confronting these uncomfortable realities head‑on.

Kumar envisions a workplace that balances productivity with human dignity, where meeting deadlines does not come at the expense of respect, and where women can speak without fear. His leadership mantra aligns discipline with empathy, aiming to inspire loyalty not through intimidation, but through fairness.

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