New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI) CPI MP Binoy Viswam on Friday termed “arbitrary and prejudiced” an SBI circular on proposed employment guidelines which reportedly stated that a woman candidate who is more than three months pregnant will be considered “temporarily unfit” and she may be allowed to join within four months of the child’s delivery.
In a letter to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, the MP said it was “shocking” that such guidelines were issued by a public sector bank.
“It completely undermines the rights of women. It appears that under the garb of ’empowering women’, the new guidelines, which consider pregnant women who are three months and above as being temporarily unfit for appointment, are in fact arbitrarily discriminating against them,” he said.
“This policy fails to consider the interests of working women and will cause further discrimination against them in the work space. Women are constantly subjected to arbitrary policies that are rooted in patriarchal mindsets,” Viswam added.
He further said he found it “appalling” that a government-run bank is not only reinforcing stereotypes but actively contributing to their creation.
“Any policy that concerns women in the workspace must ensure that it does not become a tool of discrimination and oppression. For generations, women have struggled to enter the workforce and challenge notions of patriarchy, including within the State Bank of India. Such guidelines are undemocratic, arbitrary and prejudiced,” the parliamentarian said.
The All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) has also condemned the move and said that the circular was “coated with discrimination”.
“The new year’s gift to women by the State Bank of India is one coated with discrimination… The revised instruction is bringing back the humiliation to force. The practice is discriminative against women. This amounts to breach of constitutional provision guaranteeing equal opportunity to all. The AIDWA demands that the anti-women guidelines be immediately withdrawn by the SBI,” it said. PTI ASG AAR
