The Left parties have objected to the latest recruitment guidelines of the State Bank of India which allegedly discriminate against pregnant women.
A recent circular issued by the bank on December 31 prevents women who are more than three-month pregnant from joining service, despite having been selected through due process.
The circular states that she will be “considered temporarily unfit and she may be allowed to join within four months after delivery of child”.
Seeking immediate intervention, CPI(M)’s Rajya Sabha member V. Sivadasan, in a letter to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said, “The very natural process of childbearing cannot become a disqualification.”
Denying her the opportunity to join the service also impacts her seniority, he said. He also pointed out that in 2009 the SBI had corrected its anachronistic practice of asking women candidates to declare details of their menstrual cycle to defer posting/promotion during pregnancy. “It was pointed out that these practices are against the Constitution and rights and the bank decided in 2009 to do away with such a declaration of personal details. This was the result of the intervention of progressive political forces in the country. But the present circular is reversing the progress,” Mr. Sivadasan wrote in the letter.
CPI MP Binoy Viswam also wrote to Ms. Sitharaman on the issue. “Insulting pregnancy is a crime towards motherhood. SBI’s latest guidelines discriminate against women and are anti-constitutional. Finance Minister should intervene and withdraw this circular with immediate effect,” Mr. Viswam said
