K.V. SEETHARAMAIAH
Rajasthan High Court has held that female employees in private sector are also entitled for 180 days maternity leave (Minakshi Chaudhary v. Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation and anr.). The court has urged for an amendment to labour rules so that female employees in private and unorganized sectors are also given 180 days of maternity leave as called for under a 2017 amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act. A direction to this has been reportedly issued by the Rajasthan High Court to the central government and the Rajasthan government. This observation by the court is in response to a petition filed by a woman stating that the maternity leave granted to her was limited to 90 days by the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC). The petitioner sought to enhance her maternity leave to 180 days. The court has rightly termed the Regulation 74 of the RSRTC Employees Service Regulations, 1965 as discriminatory and violated a woman’s fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution. The court has invoked the Supreme Court’s judgment in the case of Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Female Workers (Muster Roll) and Anr. Noting that the case extended the equitable right to maternity benefits to all women employees in both the organized and unorganized sectors regardless of the type of their employment, the Rajasthan High Court amply made it clear that the rule governing maternity leave benefits should not be discriminatory. It is clear that the court has taken note of the discrimination not only in terms of the number of days of maternity leave granted but also the maternity leave not granted by the unorganized sectors. There are various rules and regulations which are not implemented in letter and spirit. Justice has become the property of only those who can afford to move the courts, incur money, time and energy expenditure. Those who cannot afford to move the court suffer silently. It is not enough if the laws are enacted. More important than enacting the laws is to observe if the laws are being implemented in letter and spirit. If the benefits of laws are not percolated to the needy, the very rules and regulations become redundant. There are many obnoxious rules in private sectors. The employees cannot question them in private sectors for fear of losing the job. Because there is no job security in private sectors. Private school managements are niggardly at sanctioning the leave to the teaching and non-teaching staff. A teacher going on leave on the day preceding or succeeding Sunday or any other notified holiday is going to lose the salary for both the days. This rule is cruel in nature. The Labour department should insist the private sectors to notify the rules binding on the staff. The Labour Department should also get the copy of the rules so that if any complaint about the violation of rules is lodged in the Labour Department, it can take appropriate action against the management of the private sectors. In many private sector organizations, the woman employees proceeding on maternity leave will do so at the risk of losing the job. The anomalies in the private sectors have to be removed so that the employees working in private sectors should not feel that they are not lucky to get a government job. Job security is most important. If the fear of losing the job at the drop of a hat or if problem of the senior employees harassing the junior or newly appointed employees is removed, half the unemployment problem can be solved. Labour Laws must address the problem of the exploitation of the employees by the private management. Employees in private sector must have the privilege of facilities available in government departments and employees in government departments or public sector must have the same work culture as in private sector. If these two important issues are resolved, the nation will be on the path of rapid progress by the service rendered by the employees. Quantum of work in private sectors is too high considering the salary paid to the employees. But it is exactly its opposite in the public sectors or the government departments. It may not be exactly less work and more pay in government departments. More work is extracted from the sincere and honest employees in government departments. Those who do not show much interest in the office work are let loose. What Chanakya says is correct. He says “straight trees are cut first and the honest employees are screwed first”. Employees in private sectors can be happy if the conditions of service are more or less the same between private sector and government department employees. Better service conditions are to be stipulated and employee-friendly rules and regulations in private sectors are made to be on par with the rules and regulations in government departments and public sectors. Maternity leave benefits both in private companies and government departments should be the same as directed by the Supreme Court and Rajasthan High Court.
