CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced that woman government employees will be entitled to 365 days of maternity leave for their third child, from the current 12 weeks. Human Resources Management Minister Sarathkumar announced this in the Assembly during the demand for grants discussion.
The decision comes after the state amended Fundamental Rule 101(A) in March, restricting maternity leave to 12 weeks for woman government employees with two or more surviving children, following a Supreme Court order. The amended provision was also upheld by the Madras High Court in June in a case involving a woman government employee who sought 365 days of leave for her third child. The court held that she was entitled to only 12 weeks under the amended rules.
The latest announcement reverses that position and provides a 365-day maternity leave benefit for the third child.
The move also comes days after Health Minister K G Arunraj indicated that TN could consider incentives to encourage couples to have more children, citing the state's declining fertility rate and ageing population. Arunraj said TN's total fertility rate has fallen below 1.4, against the replacement level of 2.1, while nearly 16% of the state's population is aged above 60.
Arunraj had also referred to Andhra Pradesh's incentives for a third child as a possible model. The neighbouring state has introduced financial incentives for families having a third child as part of efforts to address its changing demographic profile. However, unlike it's direct financial assistance, this is only a service benefit exclusively for woman government employees, providing extended paid leave for childbirth, recovery and childcare.
Welcoming the move, M Manimekalai of the Tamil Nadu Primary School Teachers' Federation said the benefit would help women opting to have a third child, but the number of beneficiaries is likely to be small. The elementary education department is among those with the highest proportion of woman employees, with women accounting for more than 80% of its workforce.
Manimekalai said the number of families having more than two children has reduced drastically even in rural areas. She also said the government should resume appointing substitute teachers when teachers go on extended or maternity leave, as the absence of such replacements puts additional pressure on schools. "In recent times, the government has stopped the practice of appointing substitute teachers," she said.
C Sekar, coordinator of JACTO-GEO, said the benefit was likely to have limited reach as the government is recruiting fewer employees and many join the workforce only over 40 years of age. Hence, only a small number of employees may be eligible to avail themselves of the benefit, he said.