Maternity benefits: Govt mulls prison term for employers

If an employer doesn't give maternity benefits to employees, he may soon have to face heavy penalties, including one-year prison term.

The UPA government is mulling changes in the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, to ensure stronger enforcement of the law.

According to the proposal, the employer will have to give a special one-time allowance of Rs 1,000 for maternity expenses, in addition to the employee's normal medical allowances. The labour ministry has also proposed to extend the benefit of six-week maternity leave to miscarriage cases.

Labour Minister Oscar Fernandes gave details of the proposed amendments during a consultative committee meeting last evening. The Act will apply to women in factories, mines, plantations, performance establishments and shops with more than 10 employees.

However, the trade unions questioned the monitoring mechanism for effective implementation of the Act. During the meeting, AITUC leader and CPI MP Gurudas Dasgupta asked Fernandes, "What are you doing to ensure that these benefits reach the people? What kind of monitoring do you propose?" Dasgupta said this law was applicable only to the organised sector workers.

The benefits, he said, should be extended to the workers in the unorganised sector, which employs more than 80 per cent of the workforce. Fernandes said he would meet the consultative committee again to address these issues.

The Act provides for appointment of an inspector with powers to inquire into complaints.