The Delhi Commission for Women has issued a notice to State Bank of India, seeking withdrawal of revised guidelines that prevents women who are over three-month pregnant from joining work. The DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal took to Twitter to share that, “this is both discriminatory and illegal. We have issued a Notice to them seeking withdrawal of this anti women rule”
Terming the bank’s action as discriminatory and illegal as it could affect maternity benefits provided under the law, she said “State Bank of India seems to have issued guidelines preventing women who are over 3 months pregnant from joining service & have termed them as ‘temporarily unfit’. This is both discriminatory and illegal.”
Meanwhile, on Friday, CPI MP Binoy Viswam termed “arbitrary and prejudiced” an SBI circular on proposed employment guidelines which reportedly stated that a woman candidate who is more than three months pregnant will be considered “temporarily unfit” and she may be allowed to join within four months of the child’s delivery.
In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, the MP said it was “shocking” that such guidelines were issued by a public sector bank.
“It completely undermines the rights of women. It appears that under the garb of ’empowering women’, the new guidelines, which consider pregnant women who are three months and above as being temporarily unfit for appointment, are in fact arbitrarily discriminating against them,” he said.
“This policy fails to consider the interests of working women and will cause further discrimination against them in the work space. Women are constantly subjected to arbitrary policies that are rooted in patriarchal mindsets,” Viswam added.
He further said he found it “appalling” that a government-run bank is not only reinforcing stereotypes but actively contributing to their creation.
