The Assam government has decided to grant an extra week’s leave to its employees every year to spend time with their elderly parents. The special leave will come with a condition – the employees cannot use it for any other purpose.
Announcing the “geriatric care” leave as an Independence Day bonus, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the employees can avail the leave at any given time. “I understand that we need to work hard to run the family but can’t the government employees spend seven days with their aged parents? The government will grant the leave,” he said in his I-Day speech on Sunday.
“We have to resolve that we won’t keep our parents in old age homes. In the Indian ethos, nothing is more disturbing and shameful than to see elderly parents in old age homes,” he said.
The Chief Minister also appealed to the traders to take a week’s break from business and to accompany their parents on pilgrimages.
The proposal for leave came a week after the government linked geriatric care to the employees’ pay by pushing through the Assam Employees’ Parent Responsibility and Norms for Accountability and Monitoring Amendment Bill. This will make it mandatory for the employees to take care of their parents or face deduction from their pay that would be used for their parents’ welfare.