Indian Bank Says Pregnant Women ‘Temporarily Unfit’; Women’s Body Writes To RBI

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) has issued a notice to the Indian Bank seeking withdrawal of its new recruitment guidelines which prevents a woman, who is three or more months pregnant, from joining service.

Earlier in January, the State Bank of India (SBI) had come out with a new set of rules which said a woman candidate with more than three months of pregnancy will be considered “temporarily unfit” and can join the bank within four months after delivery. After criticism from various quarters, the SBI suspended the revised guidelines on the recruitment of pregnant women.

In its notice, the DCW said the alleged action of the Indian Bank is “discriminatory and illegal” as it is contrary to the Maternity Benefits provided under ‘The Code of Social Security, 2020′, news agency PTI reported.

“Further, it discriminates on the basis of sex which is against the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India,” the DCW said. According to the guidelines and criteria for physical fitness for pre-employment recently issued by Indian Bank, candidates would be re-examined six weeks after delivery for the appointment of the selected post.

“A woman candidate, who as a result of tests, is found to be pregnant of 12 weeks’ standing or over, should be declared temporarily unfit until the confinement is over. The candidate should be re-examined for a fitness certificate six weeks after the date of labour, subject to the production of a medical certificate of fitness from a registered medical practitioner,” it said.

DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal said the panel has taken suo-moto cognizance of media reports on the framing of new guidelines by the Indian Bank for the recruitment of staff. According to media reports, a recent circular issued by the bank prevents women who are more than three months pregnant from joining service, despite having been selected through due process, it said.

The bank has framed rules which state that if a woman candidate is three months pregnant, then she would be considered ‘temporarily unfit’ and would not be given immediate joining upon her selection. This will lead to delay in their joining and subsequently they will lose their seniority,” it said, PTI reported.

DCW action

• It has written a letter to the Reserve Bank of India on the issue.
• The commission has issued notice to Indian Bank and has asked them to withdraw the newly issued anti-women guidelines and to provide complete details as to how the policy was framed along with its approving authority.
• The bank has been asked by the panel to provide a detailed action taken report on the matter by June 23.
• Maliwal has also written a letter to the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India stating that banks like SBI and Indian Bank have issued anti-women guidelines and need to be specifically discouraged from doing so.
• She has asked RBI Governor to intervene in the matter and issue directions to all banks in the country refraining them from making illegal and unconstitutional rules which discriminate against women.
• The Commission has also requested the RBI Governor to conduct an enquiry into the matter and fix the accountability of the bank officials who have issued the sexist guidelines.