After Facing Criticism, SBI Withdraws Revised Rules On Recruitment Of Pregnant Women

After facing all-around criticism from various quarters, the country's largest lender State Bank of India (SBI), on Saturday, announced that it has decided to keep the revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates in abeyance.

SBI had recently reviewed various 'Fitness Standards for Recruitment in the Bank', including norms for Pregnant Women candidates. Under the revised rules, a woman candidate with more than three months of pregnancy will be considered "temporarily unfit" and can join the bank within four months after delivery.

The move elicited all-around criticism from various quarters, including politicians, bank unions, and Delhi Commission for Women.

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," read the bank statement.

Criticism On Hiring Rules

In politicians, members of Parliaments- Binoy Viswam and Priyanka Chaturvedi had written to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman demanding immediate withdrawal of revised rules issued by SBI concerning the recruitment of pregnant women candidates, reported NDTV.

Viswam, Communist Party of India (CPI) Rajya Sabha MP, wrote in his letter that "It undermines women's rights". And Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP wrote revised rules as "extremely discriminatory in nature," adding it weakens the progress made to empower women.

Earlier in the day, the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) had issued a notice to the bank seeking withdrawal of its revised rules stating that a candidate would be considered "temporarily unfit" in case of pregnancy which is more than three months.

All India State Bank Of India Employees' Association General Secretary K S Krishna claimed that a similar move was made in 2009, but it was revoked after the protest.

Revised Rules By SBI

In its revised rules, SBI stated that a candidate would be considered fit in case of pregnancy which is less than three months. "However, if pregnancy is of more than three months, she will be considered temporarily unfit, and she may be allowed to join within four months after delivery of child," as per the medical fitness and ophthalmological standards for new recruits and promotees dated December 31, 2021.

Previously, a candidate was considered fit in case of pregnancy up to 6 months, subject to various conditions. Such as providing a certificate from a specialist gynaecologist that the candidate's taking up bank's employment at that stage is in no way likely to interfere with her pregnancy or the normal development of the foetus, or is not likely to cause her miscarriage or otherwise to affect her health adversely.

In its press release, the country's largest lender stated that the revised guidelines were intended to clarify various health parameters where instructions were unclear or were very old. The bank alleged that some sections of media had misinterpreted the revision in norms as discriminatory against women.

SBI noted its women employees constitute 25 per cent of their workforce and that the bank has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees.

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