Only the belief that something is better than nothing will trigger a modicum of comfort for sexually exploited young women that the government has reacted to an exploding situation by appointing a panel of judges/lawyers to examine various angles of the issues being highlighted as the #Me Too movement rages across the country.

Neither Maneka Gandhi nor her ministry for women and child development can be faulted for the seemingly-tepid response, the political heavyweights across the board have hunkered down, perhaps personally wary of too many skeletons tumbling out of the closet.

Not for a moment do we attempt to add authenticity to the allegations gushing forth from within our profession against the editor-turned politician under the scanner ~ guilty is a word that must be used only after due process ~ yet there can be little justification for the man being permitted to hold on to ministerial office for so long. Any move now will be too little too late. A negative message has already been flashed: few women working in government offices will have the nerve to speak out, though the buzz has long been deafening

. To be fair to Mrs Gandhi and Smriti Irani to an extent, they have been left carrying the can. And the accusing fingers must not not be pointed in a gender-oriented direction: expecting only women ministers to broach the issue would be to say that only beef-eaters are entitled to condemn ‘gau rakshak’ lynching.

On paper the announcement of a committee by the WCD ministry seems only a token bid at fire-fighting. An enactment protecting women at the work place has been in place for close to five years, the recommendations of the Verma panel (after the Nirbhaya outrage in the Capital) have already covered much ground.

The panel advocated by Mrs Gandhi (some doubts are being raised if she is authorised to set up a body that has multi-ministry application) would do little more than address loopholes or weaknesses in the legal regime. Yet, as is true of all social-welfare enactments, the devil lies in inept implementation. The wolves bare their fangs because they know they are unlikely to be punished, and it will take a little more than #Me Too to convince women they will not be stigmatised for “telling all”.

Why, even within the family circle they will be blackened. And snide remarks passed that she had invited it. Already male-bonding is evident, the liberation struggle is being ridiculed the world over as men in power boast their trophies. When quizzed about the proposed committee officials ducked queries about what legal back-up it would provide women who opted to nail the predators. That is a critical element, women need to be assured that they will not have to pay a “second” price. A committee is like a bureaucratic reply to a parliamentary query ~ an overdose of verbiage, scant meaning.