For better care of children: Sikkim CM announces 1-year maternity leave for govt employees

What comes as a boon for both women and men in Sikkim planning to become parents, the Prem Singh Tamang government has announced a decision to provide 12-month maternity leave and one-month paternity leave to its employees. Addressing the annual general meeting of the Sikkim State Civil Service Officers’ Association (SSCSOA) in Gangtok, Sikkim Chief Minister Tamang said the changes will be made in the service rules to provide the benefit. How will this help? Tamang said the decision will help the government employees to take better care of their children and families. “The officers are the backbone of the state administration, contributing significantly to the growth and development of Sikkim and its people," the chief minister said. Tamang further said there has been a significant focus on streamlining the promotion process for civil services officers, leading to an increase in the number of promotions. What is the maternity leave rule now? According to the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, a working woman is entitled to six months, or 26 weeks, of paid maternity leave for her first two children. For each subsequent child, the mother can take three months or 12 weeks of leave, which is also fully paid for by the employer. Himalayan state - Sikkim - has the lowest population in India, around 6.32 lakh. An official notification in May this year stated that in order to boost the population of indigenous communities in Sikkim, the state government decided to provide advance and additional increments to its employees having two or three children with retrospective effect from 1 January, 2023. The notification mentioned Department of Personnel Secretary Rinzing Chewang Bhutia saying that the state government employees possessing Sikkim Subject Certificate/Certificate of Identification shall get one advanced increment for having two surviving children State government employees having three surviving children shall get one additional increment, Bhutia said, adding anyone of the spouses can claim for advance increment on mutual understanding. With inputs from agencies