Eiffel Tower Official To Step Down Over Removal Of Women Staff For Hindu Group

The operating company that runs the Eiffel Tower said Tuesday its chief would step down at the end of this year in the wake of a controversy over the removal of women staff during a visit by a Hindu religious group.

Patrick Branco Ruivo, who has been director general of the Paris landmark since 2018, would leave his job at the end of the year after an internal probe revealed that "operational flaws and shortcomings" in organising the visit led to the "unacceptable" removal of women staff, the company SETE said in a statement.

The mayor of Paris has also ordered separate investigations over the removal of women staff during a visit by the Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) spiritual movement on September 5 which prompted a staff walkout and the closure of the monument for a day.

At the time, SETE acknowledged the Hindu delegation had requested the visit be organised so as to limit "interactions with women" and said that "these conditions should not have been accepted".

"The coming months will allow us to prepare for the leadership transition under the best possible conditions," said Ariel Weil, SETE's board chairman.

He said he was demanding the creation of a "dedicated protocol department" and the implementation of a new set of measures and training programs to promote gender equality.

The Eiffel Tower says it receives nearly seven million people a year.

The BAPS spiritual movement, close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ruling conservative Hindu nationalist party, has apologised for "any pain or inconvenience caused" by the incident.

BAPS had opened its first major temple near Paris the same weekend.

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