Sir, it is my
honour and privilege to bring this progressive Maternity Benefit (Amendment)
Bill, 2016 in this august House. In India ,
and also in the world over, the labour has been recognized as a force to reckon
with, and participation of woman workforce in the formal sector has
been increased. However, the well-being of the woman during her pregnancy
and after childbirth has been a matter of serious concern. That is why, though
the labour is under the Concurrent List, various legislations have been passed
by the respective Legislative Assemblies and also by the Parliament, to
safeguard the interests of workers in the country. So, this Maternity
Benefit Act, 1961 is one such important legislation for providing maternity
benefit to the woman workforce in the organized sector.
The Act regulates
the employment of women employees in certain establishments140
for certain periods before and after child birth and provides for
maternity and certain other benefits. The Act has been enacted160
to secure the family and bring uniformity in respect of maternity
benefit to woman workers. This is as per the Employees’ State Insurance Act,
1948, which is relating to the maternity benefit. Sir, the Act, in the first
instance, applies to mines, factories, circus industry, plantations, shops
and other establishments employing 10 or more persons including any
establishment belonging to the Government except the ESIC Act. It can extend
other establishments by the State Government with the prior approval of the
Central Government. Sir, the Act was amended in 2008. The earlier ceiling was
Rs. 250 only as a medical bonus under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. Now, it
has been increased up to Rs. 1000 if no pre-natal280
confinement and post-natal care is provided for by the employer, free of
charge. Besides, the power of increased medical bonus was given to the Central
Government subject to the maximum amount of Rs. 25,000.
Our 44th, 45th and
46th Indian Labour Conferences320 have recommended for enhancement
of this mandatory benefit. The Ministry of Women and Child Development
has also requested our Ministry to enhance the Maternity Leave under
this Act. Based on the recommendations of ILC, the Ministry of Women and
Child Development and other organizations, we have now proposed to increase the
maternity benefit from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children and 12
weeks for more than two children. For the commissioning mothers and adopting
mothers, the maternity benefit will be 12 weeks. We have also facilitated the
mothers to work from home in this Bill.420 There is a
mandatory provision of crèche in respect of establishment of 50 or more
employees. Every establishment has to intimate in writing or electrically to
its women employees, at the time of their initial appointment, about the
maternity benefits under this Bill. The very objective of this Bill is to
increase the maternity benefits for the purpose of providing full maternal
care480 to a newborn child during the most formative
period. The enhanced benefits, which are proposed in the present amending Bill,
will have a positive impact on women participation in the labour force.
It will improve work-life balance of the woman workers. It has been the
endeavour of the Government to ensure the well-being of the mother and
her child. The amendments proposed in this Bill will go a long way in this
direction. Sir, if this Bill560 is passed, I am sure, it will
benefit mothers who are employing in organized sector of this country. This is
also a move in the right direction and in the vision of NDA Government led by hon.
Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. This will provide benefits to the women
workforce and to encourage them to participate in the overall economic
growth of the country. With these words, I commend this Bill
for the consideration of this august House.
Hon. Chairman, Sir,
the640 Maternity Benefit Bill 2016 is an important Bill. I
was just crossing my mind this morning whether this Bill has been
brought today in the light of the fact that yesterday was the International
Women’s Day. In my view, this Bill addresses the dilemma of women in
organized sector who are pregnant or lactating but it is not700
just about the women of India. The reason I say this is the strength of our
future generation, their capacity to work, whether it is health or strength, internal
or external, it directly depends on how well we look after our women when
they are pregnant and how much of care we give our women during the period
when they are lactating or when they are breastfeeding their children.
This Bill although focuses on that phase of a woman’s life but how well we
implement this Bill has a direct impact on the health of our future
generations. After all, it is800 a woman’s physical
strength which will give birth to a strong child, which will in turn take
part in some form of nation building.
Sir, this Bill is
significant also for the reason that over a period of time,840
right from the Law Commission of India, there has been a
consistent demand that the maternity benefit period should be raised. The
reason that this argument has repeatedly come into the public domain is to
improve the volume of women in our country’s work force. If we could
make that increment, that increase in the contribution of women in our work
force, it is bound to have a direct impact on our growth rate, on our economy.
So, flowing from that, rather than looking at this just as a women’s Bill and
connecting it to International Women’s Day, I feel that this Bill has a larger
economic impact, sociological impact and it will definitely impact the
future of our country.960 I would briefly address the key
amendments as the opening speaker. The maternity benefit will apply to the
organized sector980 where there are 10 or more employees and
the period has been extended from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. So, it will apply to
factories, mines, shops and establishments and significantly where this period
was applicable to only six weeks before the expected date of delivery, if I
remember correctly. Now, it can date back to eights weeks before the expected
date of delivery. I think that is a good amendment. Apart from that, it
says if you have two or more children, this period will be reduced to 12 weeks.
Also, there is a new concept of commissioning mothers. Adopting is although not
a new concept; commissioning mothers are mothers who will use their eggs to
have surrogate children. For them, the maternity benefit period is 12 weeks provided
the child is below three months. As the hon. Minister said,1120
any establishment with 50 or more employees will have to have crèche
facilities with all women who will have rights to at least four visits
to the crèche. Apart from that, the employer and the employee, during the
period of maternity benefit, will have the option to work out from home on
mutually agreed terms and conditions.
Now the question is
this. I go back to why maternity benefit becomes important in work place for a
woman. It is because, actually if you look at the figures of our nation,
it is quite saddening because recently a well-known organization ‘Save the
Children’ had conducted a survey which brought out that India is actually
ranked 140th out of 179 countries in the Mothers’ Index rank. The reason this
figure or this data is important is because one of the criteria in1260
ranking India
as a nation for Mothers’ Index rank is maternal health and children’s well-being.
It is also well established1280 in various data and
the public domain that only 25 per cent of the paid labour force are
women versus the global figures which is at an average of 40 per cent. I
need not emphasize that 90 per cent of our women are actually working in
the unorganized sector and it is only 1.8 million of the pregnant
ladies in the country that will actually benefit from this new legislation. It
is because 90 per cent of the women who are part of the labour force, work in
the unorganized sector. So the question is, if we were to say that the Unorganized
Workers' Social Security Act 2008 covers that, I would request the Minister to
ensure that there is1400 parity without which the
consequence will be to leave out most of the working women of this country.
Apart from that, when we talk about maternity benefit, it has a direct
impact on treating a man and a woman equally in a work place.1444
