Following criticism, SBI withdraws guidelines on recruitment of pregnant women

The State Bank of India (SBI) on Saturday said it has decided to keep in abeyance its revised guidelines for recruitment of pregnant women candidates.

The bank  had earlier come out with revised instructions under which it had said that a woman who is over three months pregnant will be considered "temporarily unfit" and she may be allowed to join within four months after delivery. This move had faced criticism from various quarters, including labour unions and the Delhi Commission for Women.

Following this, SBI said in a statement, "SBI has recently reviewed the various fitness standards for recruitment in the bank, including norms for pregnant women candidates. The revised guidelines were intended to provide clarity on various health parameters where instructions were not clear or were very old."

However, it said that the revision in norms in this regard has been interpreted as discriminatory against women in some sections of the media.

"...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," the statement said.

SBI said that it has always been proactive towards the care and empowerment of its women employees who now constitute around 25 per cent of its workforce. During the COVID period, as per government instructions, pregnant women employees were exempted from attending office and allowed to work from home, the bank said.   

(With PTI inputs)

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