Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Dr. Jitendra Singh on Tuesday said that the reforms in governance, introduced by Prime Minister, Narendra Modi provide an enabling environment for working women.

Briefing about the measures undertaken by the Ministry of Personnel, which is the nodal Ministry for personnel management, Dr. Singh said the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has made concerted efforts to increase the representation of women in the Central Government jobs and to provide them a balance between professional as well as family life.

The Minister cited the example of Child Care Leave (CCL) and said that in continuation of the grant of 730-day CCL, some new facilities are being given. These include that an employee on Child Care Leave may be permitted to leave headquarters with the prior approval of the appropriate competent authority; the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) may be availed, while an employee is on CCL, and can also proceed on foreign travel, provided clearances from appropriate competent authorities are taken in advance.

Moreover, the minimum period for Child Care Leave has been reduced from mandatory 15 days to 5 days and the limit of 22 years in case of a disabled child for the purpose of a Government servant availing Child Care Leave under the provisions of Rule 43-C of the CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972, has been removed.

The Union Minister underlined that a Special Allowance @ Rs 3,000 per month to women employees with a disability has been granted for child care with effect from 1st July 2022, which will increase by 25 percent on an increase of DA by 50 percent.

The Minister said that the Special Leave provision connected to inquiry of sexual harassment, as leave up to a period of 90 days, can be availed by an aggrieved female Government Servant, which will be granted during the pendency of the inquiry and the leave granted to the aggrieved female Government servant under this rule shall not be debited against the leave account.

He said that keeping in view the potential emotional trauma caused due to still-birth or death of a child soon after birth, which has a far-reaching impact on the mother’s life, it has now been decided to grant a Special Maternity Leave of 60 days to a female Central Government Servant in case of death of a child soon after birth or still-birth.

The Minister pointed out that even during the entire Covid period, special provisions for women officers and staff were made through various office memos (OMs), like provision for attendance as per roster or skeletal staff and pregnant employees were exempted from the roster and allowed to “Work from Home.”

Dwelling on the Women-Centric reforms in the Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare, he referred to a recent OM wherein a divorced daughter, in whose case a decree of divorce was issued after the death of her parents, will be eligible for family pension if the divorce petition was filed before the death of the parents.

Similarly, the families of missing employees covered under the National Pension Scheme (NPS), can now get a family pension within 6 months of lodging an FIR and not wait for seven years after which the employee is considered deemed dead.

Even in cases,  where the Government servant dies before completing a service of seven years, a family pension shall be payable to the family at an enhanced rate of 50 percent of the last pay for the first 10 years and thereafter @ 30 percent of the last payment.