SBI stays guidelines on pregnant women

New Delhi, January 29

The country’s premiere public sector bank SBI on Saturday put on hold its controversial guidelines, which said candidates with a pregnancy of three months and more would be considered temporarily unfit for appointments and promotions and will be allowed to join within four months after delivery of the child.

Move after flak

In view of the public sentiments, the SBI has decided to keep the revised instructions in abeyance regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates and continue with the existing instructions in the matter. SBI statement

The present guidelines allow the appointment of candidates up to six months of pregnancy provided the candidate furnishes a certificate from a specialist gynaecologist.

These guidelines were brought in 2009. However, the proposed new guidelines triggered furore, with gender rights activists terming these sexist and regressive. Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi even took up the matter with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a letter. “The proposed SBI guidelines delay the process of recruitment and promotion for women at a time when female workforce participation is worsening,” Chaturvedi said. She cited India dropping 28 places in the 2021 Gender Gap Index and ending at 104th place in 156 nations in the rankings based on economic participation and political empowerment of women.

“The SBI has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees,” the bank said. —