New Delhi: State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, has withdrawn the recently implemented guidelines under which a woman applicant who is more than three months pregnant was regarded as "temporarily unfit" and could rejoin the bank within four months after delivery.
Some people have criticised the action, notably the All India State Bank Of India Employees' Association. In its most recent medical fitness requirements for new recruits or promotees, the bank said that a candidate would be considered fit if she was pregnant for less than three months.
In response to the criticism, SBI said, "In some sections of the media, the revision in norms in this regard has been interpreted as discriminatory against women. SBI has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees who now constitute around 25% of our workforce."
In an issued statement, the bank has further said that according to the govt guidelines, in the covid period, pregnant women employees were exempted from attending office and allowed to Work From Home.
"However, in view of the public sentiments, SBI has decided to keep the revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates in abeyance and continue with the existing instructions in the matter," the SBI said in an issued statement, ANI reported.
SBI Guidelines For Pregnant Women Employees
It said that the policy will be implemented for recruiting beginning on December 21, 2021, the date of approval.
The amended promotion rules will take effect on April 1, 2022, according to the statement.
Previously, women applicants with up to 6 months of pregnancy were permitted to join the bank under certain conditions.
The requirements include providing a certificate from a specialist gynaecologist stating that her taking up bank work at that time is not likely to interfere with her pregnancy or the proper development of the foetus or to cause her miscarriage or otherwise harm her health.
(With ANI Inputs)