State Bank of India on Saturday said it has decided to keep the revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates in abeyance and continue with the existing instructions in the matter after the lender faced criticism online and was served a notice by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) seeking withdrawal of the “anti-women rule”.
As per its circular dated December 31, SBI said in case of pregnancy that is less than 3 months, a woman candidate will be considered fit to join the organisation. However, if pregnancy is more than 3 months, then the candidate will be considered temporarily unfit and she may be allowed to join within four months after delivery. As per its earlier rules, women candidates could be appointed in the bank up to six months of pregnancy, provided the candidate furnished a certificate from a gynaecologist.
“State Bank of India seems to have issued guidelines preventing women who are over 3 months pregnant from joining service and have termed them as ‘temporarily unfit’. This is both discriminatory and illegal. We have issued a notice to them seeking withdrawal of this anti-women rule,” tweeted Swati Maliwal, chairperson of DCW.
In its notice addressed to SBI chairman Dinesh Khara, the DCW has sought information on steps taken by the bank to ensure future recruitment guidelines do not discriminate on basis of gender. Further, the DCW has sought information about the detailed process through which the revised recruitment guidelines were formed along with names and designation of the approval authority. SBI has been asked to provide the said information to the commission by February 1.
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