Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 29 : State Bank of India (SBI) has withdrawn the controversial circular on recruitment of pregnant women candidates in the bank. In view of the public sentiments, SBI has decided to keep the revised instructions regarding recruitment of pregnant women candidates in abeyance and continue with the existing instructions in the matter, a release said here on Saturday.
The SBI circular said if the women is pregnant for more than 3 months, the candidate will be considered ”temporarily unfit” for service and she may be allowed to join within 4 months after the delivery of child. SBI has recently reviewed the various Fitness Standards for recruitment in the Bank, including norms for pregnant women candidates, it said.
The revised guidelines were intended to provide clarity on various health parameters where instructions were not clear or were very old. In some sections of the media, the revision in norms in this regard has been interpreted as discriminatory against women. SBl has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees who now constitute around 25% of our workforce, it added. During the COVID period, as per Government instructions, pregnant women employees were exempted from attending office and allowed to work from home, it said.
