Ministry of Women and Child Development

AADHAAR OF HUSBAND NOT TO BE MANDATORY IN MODIFIED PMMVY

02 FEB 2022

The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing Centrally Sponsored Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) under which maternity benefits of ₹5,000/- is being provided in three instalments to Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) for the first child upon fulfilment of certain conditionalities. In order to receive the maternity benefit under PMMVY, a beneficiary is required to provide her and her husband’s Aadhaar details which are captured in the database.

There is no such requirement under other schemes meant for mother or pregnant women being implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

The PMMVY is implemented in all States/Union Territories, except Odisha and Telangana. The seasonal migrants can avail the benefits of the scheme from any of the State/Union Territory implementing the scheme.

Further, for registration under the scheme, the beneficiary is, inter-alia, required to submit her and her husband’s written consent for availing the maternity benefits.

The Development & Monitoring Evaluation Office of NITI Aayog has evaluated the centrally sponsored schemes of Ministry of Women & Child Development including PMMVY and its recommendations have been considered. Accordingly, it is envisaged that the written consent and the aadhaar of husband not to be a mandatory criteria in the modified guidelines of PMMVY component under Mission Shakti in order to facilitate inclusion of single mother and abandoned mother.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

PIB

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Ministry of Labour & Employment
ESIC takes Major Policy Initiatives for better services to Insured Workers/ Insured Women

23 FEB 2021

Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) during its 184th Meeting held on 22.02.2021 under the chairmanship of Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Minister of State for Labour& Employment (Independent Charge), Govt. of India has taken several significant decisions to improve its service delivery mechanism and to strengthen the medical infrastructure benefiting its Insured Workers.

Highlights

1. Relaxation in contributory conditions to avail Sickness Benefit to the Insured Women availing Maternity Benefit

After the enhancement in duration of maternity benefit from earlier 12 weeks to 26 weeks, in some cases Insured Women were not eligible to avail sickness benefit in the corresponding benefit period after availing maternity benefit as the mandatory contributory conditions of minimum 78 days were not met being the Insured Women under receipt of maternity benefit and leave.

In such cases, it has been now decided that an Insured Women will be qualified to claim sickness benefit in the corresponding benefit period if the contribution in her respect were paid or payable for not less than half the number of days available for working in such shorter contribution period.

The relaxation will be effective from 20.01.2017 i.e. the date from which the enhanced duration of Maternity Benefit is effective.

ESIC – Submission of Annual Immovable Property Returns (AIPRs) of Group ‘A’ & ‘B’ Officers/ Officials and SSOs for the year 2020

2. Relaxation in contributory conditions to avail Sickness & Maternity Benefits for the benefit period of January to June’2021

The country was placed into lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, which resulted in the closure of factories/establishments for several months. It resulted in non-entitlement to avail sickness & maternity benefits for many Insured Persons/Women as the mandatory days of contribution couldn’t be met. Considering the hardship being faced by Insured Persons, ESIC has now decided to extend the relief to the IPs by relaxing the contributory conditions for availing the Sickness & Maternity Benefits for the benefit period of 01.01.2021 to 30.06.2021.

Now, an Insured Woman will be entitled to avail Maternity Benefit, if the contributions in respect of her were payable not less than 35 days in immediately preceding two consecutive contribution periods.

In case of IPs/IWs appointed before the contribution period April-September, 2020 , the eligibility condition to avail sickness benefit will be decided on the basis of their contribution in previous contribution period i.e. September ’19 to March ‘2020,whereas, the IPs/IWs appointed during the contribution period April-September, 2020 will be eligible for sickness benefit in the benefit period January-June ‘2021 if contribution in respect of them were payable for not less than half the number of days available for working to them during the contribution period April-September ‘2020.

3. ESIC to construct 300 bedded Hospital including 50 Super Specialty beds at Haridwar, Uttarakhand:

To meet the medical services needs of IPs in Haridwar&surrounding districts, the ESI Corporation has decided to construct 300 bedded ESIC Hospital including 50 bedded Super Specialty beds & Staff Quarters in 5 acres of land at Haridwar, Uttarakhand. After construction, the hospital will provide medical care services to around 2.55 lakh Insured Workers & their family members

4. ESIC to construct 350 bedded Hospital with additional 50 bedded SST wing at Vishakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh:

Keeping its firm to provide good medical healthcare benefits to the Insured workers and to strengthen its medical care infrastructure, the ESI Corporation has approved the project of construction of 350 bedded Hospital with an additional 50 bedded SST Wing and 128 Staff Quarters in a plot area of 8.72 acres (approx.) at Sheelanagar, Vishakhapatnam. The proposed hospital, after construction, will provide medical services to around 14 lakh beneficiaries covered under ESI Scheme in Vishakhapatnam & surrounding areas.

5. Establishmentof Negative Pressure ICU at ESIC Super Specialty Hospital & Medical College at Hyderabad, Telangana:

The decision to establish Negative Pressure ICU at ESIC Super Specialty Hospital & Medical College at Hyderabad, Telangana was also taken during the meeting. The establishment of Negative Pressure ICU will decrease the burden of infection to the healthcare workers and will also decrease secondary infections to other critically ill patients admitted in the ICU.

6. Approval of Revised Estimates & Budget Estimates for the year 2020-21 & 2021-22 and Performance Budget for the year 2021.22 of ESIC:

The ESI Corporation has also approved the Revised Estimates & Budget Estimates for the year 2020-21 & 2021-22 and Performance Budget for the year 2021-22 during the meeting.

7. Besides these, around 25 other agenda items pertaining to improvement in service delivery mechanism were also reported and approved.

The other dignitaries to grace the occasion wereShri Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour& Employment, Govt. of India, Smt. Anuradha Prasad, Additional Secretary, MoLE, GoI& Director General, ESIC, Hon’ble members of ESI Corporation, Smt. Sandhya Shukla, Financial Commissioner, ESIC, Smt. Garima Bhagat, CVO, ESIC, and many others.

Source: PIB

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F.No-S-36012/03/2015-SS-I
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment

Sharam Shakti Bhawan, New Delhi
28 August, 2017

To
The Secretary,
Labour Department,
All State Governments/UT Administrators

Subject: The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017

Sir/Madam,

Kind reference is invited to Ministry of Labour & Employment’s earlier letter number S-36012/03/2015-ss-I dated 12.04.2017 (copy enclosed) highlighting the recent amendments made to Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. The Ministry had also clarified therin certain points of doubts to facilitate smooth implementation of the provisions of the said Act, specially in respect of coverage of contractual workers under the Act. This Ministry in the recent past have been receiving a number of complaints and grievances from working women stating non-implementation of the provisions of the M.B. Act including alleged dismissal of few women by the employers in violation of section 12 of the said Act, non coverage of contractual employees, etc. The honourable National Commission for women has also taken serious view of such denial of rights of working women. This Ministry would, therefore, urge all the State/UT Labour Commissioners (which is the implementing authority under the M.B. Act) to effectively enforce the provisions of M.B. Act, and take strict punitive action against defaulting employers and ensure that the provisions of the statute are implemented in true spirit and letter to protect the rights of working women enshrined in the Act.

Yours faithfully
sd/-
(Manish Kumar Gupta)
Joint Secretary, Govt of India

Source: Confederation

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The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given ex-post facto approval to Pan-India implementation of Maternity Benefit Program which now has been extended to all districts of the country w.e.f. 01.01.2017. The Prime Minister in his address to the nation on 31.12.2016 had announced Pan-India implementation of Maternity Benefit Program.

The Maternity Benefit Program will provide compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the women can take adequate rest before and after delivery and not be deprived of proper nutrition.

The total cost of the proposal for the period from 01.01.2017 to 31.03.2020 including Central and State Government share isRs.12,661crore. Government of India’s share during the period 01.01.2017 to 31.03.2020 comes to around Rs. 7932 crore.

Objective of the Scheme

1.         To provide partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the first living child.
2.       The cash incentives provided would lead to improved health seeking behaviour amongst the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mother (PW&LM) to reduce the effects of under-nutrition namely stunting, wasting and other related problems.

 Target Group

All eligible Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers (PW&LM), excluding the Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers who are in regular employment with the Central Government or State Government or Public Sector Undertakings or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being. It has been decided to give the benefit of Rs.5000/- to PW&LM in three installment for the birth of the first live child by MWCD and the remaining cash incentive as per approved norms towards Maternity Benefit under existing programmes after institutional delivery so that on an average, a woman will get Rs.6000/-.

Conditions and installments

Pregnant Women and Lactating Mothers who are eligible will receive a cash benefit of Rs.5,000/- in three installment at the following stages as specified in the table given below:

The eligible beneficiaries would continue to receive the remaining cash incentive as per approved norms towards Maternity Benefit under existing programmes after institutional delivery so that on an average, a woman will get Rs. 6000/-.

Mode of cash transfer to the Beneficiaries

The conditional cash transfer scheme would be in DBT mode.

Background:

The Government of India is committed to ensure that every woman gets adequate support and health care during pregnancy and at the time of delivery and every newborn is immunized on time which is the foundation for better health of the mother and the newborn. Normally, the first pregnancy of a woman exposes her to new kinds of challenges and stress factors. Hence, the scheme intends to provide support to the mother for safe delivery and immunization of her first living child. The improved health care seeking behaviour of the PW&LM would lead to better health status for the mother and the child.

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The Government has notified the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017 on 28th March,2017 and the provisions of the Amendment Act have come into force with effect from 1st April,2017, except those relating to creche facility {Section 4(1)} which would come into force from 01.07.2017.

Keeping in view queries received from various quarters, the Ministry of Labour & Employment, on 12.04.2017, had issued certain clarifications on various provisions of Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. One of the clarifications issued by the Ministry stated that the enhanced maternity benefit, as modified by the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) bill, 2016 can be extended to women who are already under maternity leave at the time of enforcement of this Amendment Act.

Having received further queries and to remove doubts, it is further clarified that it is mandatory on the part of employers to extend the benefit of enhanced maternity leave to those women workers who were already on maternity leave on the date of enforcement of the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017 i.e. as on 01.04.2017.

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No. S·36012/03/2015-S5-1
Government of India
Ministry of Labour & Employment

Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg,
New Delhi, dated 12th April, 2017

To

The labour Department,
All States/Union Territories

Sub: The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 – reg.

Sir/Madam,

In line with recommendations of the 44th, 45th & 46th Session of Indian Labour Conference (ILC) and demands from various quarters, the Government has recently enacted the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. Through this Amendment Act, following provisions have been added to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961:-

Increase in the maternity leave from existing 12 to 26 weeks for working women with less than two surviving children.

• Provisions for work from home for nursing mothers.
• Mandatory provisions for establishments having fifty or more employees to have the facility of creche.
• Extension of twelve weeks of maternity benefit to the ‘commissioning mother‘ and the ‘adopting mother‘ from the date the child is handed over.

Provisions of the Amendment Act have come in to force w.e.f 1st April, 2017, except those relating to creche facility (Section 4( 1)} which would come into force from 01.07.2017.

2. After the enactment of the said Act, the Ministry has been receiving numerous queries relating the revised provisions of the Act. The Ministry has examined such queries in consultation with Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) and the same are clarified as below :-

3. It is requested that these clarifications may be noted for compliance and also circulated widely so as to make the pregnant working women aware of their rights.

Yours faithfully,
(H.L. Meena)
Director (SS)

Source: The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act,2017

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Scheme to be implemented on a Pan India basis w.e.f. 01.01.2017

The Maternity Benefit Programme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme being implemented through the State Governments/UT Administrations. The Ministry issues guidelines for implementation of the Programme, releases funds in the prescribed cost sharing ratio and monitors implementation of the scheme. Whenever, any incident of non-payment of benefits under the Programme is brought to the notice of the Ministry, the concerned State Government/UT Administration is requested to take necessary action in this regard. Adequate fund have been placed at the disposal of States/UTs for providing maternity benefit to the eligible beneficiaries.

Earlier this scheme was implemented in selected 53 districts of the country, the Government has approved pan-India Implementation of Maternity Benefit Programme to cover all the districts of the country with effect from 01.01.2017. Year-wise details of funds allotted to the scheme are as under:

* For implementation of Maternity Benefit Programme.

Details of funds released under the Maternity Benefit Programme during 2011-12 to 2016-17 (Up to 06.03.2017) and number of beneficiaries across the country is as follows:

This information was given by Minister of State for Women & Child Development, Smt Krishna Raj in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

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The Bill seeks to increase maternity leave available to working women from the current 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children

The Lok Sabha has passed the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 today. The Bill had already been passed by the Rajya Sabha during the Winter Session. With this, the Bill stands passed in the Parliament.

The Bill seeks to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 to provide for the following:-

(i) Maternity leave available to the working women to be increased from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for the first two children.

(ii) Maternity leave for children beyond the first two will continue to be 12 weeks.

(iii) Maternity leave of 12 weeks to be available to mothers adopting a child below the age of three months as well as to the “commissioning mothers”. The commissioning mother has been defined as biological mother who uses her egg to create an embryo planted in any other woman.

(iv) Every establishment with more than 50 employees to provide for creche facilities for working mothers and such mothers will be permitted to make four visits during working hours to look after and feed the child in the creche.

(v) The employer may permit a woman to work from home if it is possible to do so.

(vi) Every establishment will be required to make these benefits available to the women from the time of her appointment.

The Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Maneka Gandhi thanked the Minister for Labour and Employment, Shri Bandaru Dattatreya for taking up the demand of lakhs of women across the country and for having steered the Bill through Rajya Sabha as well as the Lok Sabha. In her message to the working women, Smt. Gandhi congratulated the women who are planning to have a child and has stated that the Ministry of Women and Child Development will continue to work for the empowerment of women.

The amendments in the Bill were taken up following the request by the WCD Minister to the Hon’ble Labour Minister to bring about these changes so that a working woman gets time to exclusively breast-feed her child for 6 months after the birth. This period also enables the working mother to recuperate herself before she goes to back to work. In her communication to the Labour Ministry, the WCD Minister had also highlighted the concerns of commissioning and adopting mothers who also require maternity leave.

PIB

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Amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, has given its ex-post facto approval for amendments to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 by introducing the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 in Parliament.

The maternity benefit Act 1961 protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her of a ‘maternity benefit’ – i.e. full paid absence from work – to take care for her child. The act is applicable to all establishments employing 10 or more persons. The amendments will help 1.8 million (approx.) women workforce in organised sector.

The amendments to Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 are as follows:

• Increase Maternity Benefit from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children and 12 weeks for more than two children.

• 12 weeks Maternity Benefit to a ‘Commissioning mother’ and ‘Adopting mother’.

• Facilitate’Work from home’. • Mandatory provision of Creche in respect of establishment having 50 or more employees.

Justification:

• Maternal care to the Child during early childhood – crucial for growth and development of the child.

• The 44th, 45th and 46th Indian Labour Conference recommended enhancement of Maternity Benefits to 24 weeks.

• Ministry of Women & Child Development proposed to enhance Maternity Benefit to 8 months.

• In Tripartite consultations, all stake holders, in general supported the amendment proposal.

Source : PIB

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The main provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act are:

i) No employer shall knowingly employ a woman in any establishment during the six weeks immediately following the day of her delivery or her miscarriage. Also, no woman shall work in any establishment during the six weeks immediately following the day of her delivery or her miscarriage.

ii) Every woman shall be entitled to, and her employer shall be liable for, the payment of maternity benefit at the rate of the average daily wage for the period of her actual absence immediately preceding and in- cluding the day of her delivery and for the six weeks immediately following that day.

iii) No woman shall be entitled to maternity benefit unless she has actually worked in an establishment of the employer from whom she claims maternity benefit, for a period of not less than eighty days in the twelve months immediately preceding the date of her expected delivery.

iv) The maximum period for which any woman shall be entitled to maternity benefit shall be twelve weeks, that is to say, six weeks up to and including the day of her delivery and six weeks immediately following that day.

v) No deduction from the normal and usual daily wages of a woman entitled to maternity benefit shall be made by reason only of –

(i) the nature of work assigned to her by virtue of the provisions of the Act; or
(ii) breaks for nursing the child allowed to her under the provisions of the Act.

vi) If a woman works in any establishment after she has been permitted by her employer to absent herself for any period, during such authorised absence, she shall forfeit her claim to the maternity benefit for such period.

The above said statement is the part of undermentioned Lok Sabha Q&A:-

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
LOK SABHA

STARRED QUESTION NO 167

ANSWERED ON 09.03.2015

AMENDMENT TO MATERNITY BENEFITS ACT

167 . Pal Shri Jagdambika

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:-

(a) the key provisions of the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961;

(b) whether the Government has any proposal to bring amendments to the Act;

(c) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor; and

(d) the time by which the proposed amendments are likely to be implemented along with the extent to which the same would be beneficial for working women in the country?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SHRI BANDARU DATTATREYA)

(a) to (d): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT RERERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (d) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.167 FOR 09.03.2015 BY SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL REGARDING AMENDMENT TO MATENITY BENEFITS ACT.

(a): The main provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act are: —As mentioned above

(b): No, Madam.

(c) & (d): Does not arise in view of facts mentioned at (b) above.

Source: http://164.100.47.132/LssNew/psearch/QResult16.aspx?qref=12590

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