J&K Govt rules out paid maternity leave for contractual employees

Srinagar, Feb 17: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday said it has no proposal to extend paid maternity leave benefits to women employees engaged on a contractual basis, informing the Legislative Assembly that service conditions for such workers are governed by scheme guidelines or the terms of their contracts.

The clarification came in response to a question tabled by BJP MLA Shagun Parihar, who sought to know whether the government intends to extend maternity leave benefits to women employees working on a contractual basis in various departments and, if so, when.

She also asked for reasons if no such move was under consideration.

In its written reply, the government said it “has always adopted pro-labour and pro-gender policies in its contractual and regular engagements.”

However, it added that “the service conditions of women employees working under different Government schemes are governed by the guidelines of the respective schemes or as per the terms of agreement/conditions of the contract of engagement.”

The government did not indicate any plan to introduce paid maternity leave for contractual staff.

It stated that to ensure social security and welfare benefits for all contractual employees, certain leave provisions have already been prescribed.

These include 15 days of casual leave annually with wages or honorarium, 30 days of leave without honorarium on account of accident or illness, and 180 days of maternity leave without honorarium.

The reply makes clear that while contractual women employees are entitled to 180 days of maternity leave, the leave period is unpaid.

The issue of maternity benefits for contractual employees has been raised periodically in the Assembly, with demands from employee groups seeking parity with regular government staff who receive paid maternity leave under applicable service rules.