Working women are likely to enjoy six months of paid maternity leave from January 2011, said a high official of the Ministry of Finance.
The government will immediately issue a gazette notification to implement the maternity leave, which is now under consideration of the president, he said.
As a priority issue of the government, it might take about a week to get the president’s approval for implementation of the leave programme, Dr Mohammad Tareque, finance secretary, told The Daily Star last Thursday.
All formalities in this matter have been done, he said.
At least 1.21 crore female employees will be entitled to the leave so that their infants can be exclusively breastfed for six months as prescribed by child experts, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin Choudhury told The Daily Star last Monday.
The step has been taken to combat malnutrition and to ensure the newer generation grows up to be much healthier both physically and mentally, she added.
“This move will enormously help increase the productivity and motivation of the working women and achieve the millennium development goals by 2015, the target year,” said the minister.
Employees however expressed their doubts about the implementation of the leave as most non-government organisations and readymade garments sectors do not even allow four-months of leave for their female employees.
According to the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006, a woman employee is entitled to a maternity leave for 16 weeks before or after delivery.
Shonali Akhter, a 23-year-old domestic aid at Khilgaon said she had worked at a readymade garments factory earlier, but as soon as she became pregnant the manager terminated her without providing any compensation.
A female public servant can enjoy maternity leave for four months with full pay twice during the tenure of her services, according to the Public Servants Rules.
However, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s campaign for exclusive breastfeeding for six months contradicts with the existing rule, pointed a government high official of Institute of Public Health and Nutrition (IPHN).
Fatima Parveen Chowdhury, director of IPHN, told The Daily Star six months of maternity leave will make a difference, as currently, two million infants are suffering from acute malnutrition of which 15 percent die.
Rokeya Kabir, executive director of Bangladesh Nari Pragati Sangha (BNPS), said women working in the private sector hardly get the paid maternity leave as the employers distort the maternity benefits, thanks to the lack of monitoring by the government.
Paternity Leave
With an aim to assist their spouses in taking care of the newborn infants, the government has made a proposition to allow a 15-day paternity leave for the men, which is currently at the establishment ministry, said sources.
According to the proposal, new fathers will have the opportunity to enjoy the leave, 15 days before or after childbirth. It will be allowed only for the first two children.
Nazmul Islam, joint secretary of establishment ministry, told The Daily Star, “The proposal is now under consideration of the ministry.”
