No maternity leave at AIIMS?

About 40 senior resident doctors, who are pregnant, forced to continueu00a0with their duties as the administration allegedly isn't allowing them any time off

Among other things, AIIMS is also renowned for its pregnancy care. But that only benefits the patients. It appears that the institute is rather callous when dealing with maternity issues of its own employees. At least 42 senior resident doctors who are pregnant are currently working in various departments of the institute.


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They have been coming to the hospital and performing their respective duties as the administration is allegedly not granting them maternity leaves. According to the guidelines, one has to work for 80 days in a period of 12 months to be eligible for maternity leave.

"I am coming to the hospital even in the 37th week of my pregnancy. We had applied for leave months ago, but the administration is not responding. At this point of pregnancy, all women are asked to take complete bed rest. But here, we are working in the country's biggest medical institute, and fighting for our basic rights," said a senior resident from the Neurosurgery Department on the condition of anonymity.

All work, no play
Apparently, this problem has been bugging residents since 2010, as the tenure of these doctors is still under scanner. The appointments and promotion of the adhocs appointed on monthly basis (many of whom have now been working for more than two years) is still to be decided by the management.

"The administration itself is extending the appointments and they turn a complete blind eye towards the problem. Already, the appointment issue is creating a lot of confusion, and their indifferent behaviour towards both that and the maternity issue is really annoying," said another senior doctor from AIIMS who did not wished to be named.

Due to the confounding behaviour of the administration, few of the residents have already left the institute and their job with it, as it was getting impossible for them to work at this stage of pregnancy.

'Labour pains'
"We have been using our other unpaid leaves as we are not getting the maternity leaves which are paid leaves. I reach office at 8 in the morning and work till 6 in the evening, and sometimes we have night duty too. This behaviour is completely inhuman," said another lady doctor from Gynaecology Department on the condition of anonymity.

"Two ladies joined last month on a regular basis and wanted maternity leave and the institute is creating hassles. Despite the DGHS order we could get 2+2 (or 3+1) months (unpaid and paid) maternity leave till January this year for most residents. The problem has assumed serious proportions now with recent hassles by AIIMS administration," said Dr Debjyoti Karmakar, President, Residents Doctor Association (RDA), AIIMS.
Help!

The doctors have been filing complaints and representations with the authorities regarding the matter, but are annoyed with the slow response of the administration. "We have been submitting complaints and other relevant documents to the administration on a regular basis, but no action has been taken yet. Several lady doctors are suffering a lot. The Group C and D employees are getting proper maternity leaves, but only the residents are facing this problem," added Dr Karmakar. The issue has reached social networking sites like Facebook as well. The doctors have been talking about the issue and posting their comments too.

"DOPT (department of personnel training, under PMO) CCS leave rules retrieved from their office today: no difference in leaves except study leave between regular and adhoc employees. Reference of supreme court judgment on maternity leave retrieved from RDA lawyer and given to sub dean for DDA's kind knowledge: every woman employee, regular/adhoc at any gestation is entitled to 6 months paid maternity leave," one of the posts said.

"Copy of DGHS sanction against maternity leave retrieved from institute sources: The file had been put up in such a manner by academic cell that it was bound to create problems for adhoc female employees. Even that negative sanction has loopholes. In worst case scenario institute can still give 6 months paid extraordinary leave in lieu of maternity leave. That needs a keen admin and a push. The push was nicely and rudely given to institute by RDA," said another post by the doctors.

'Miscarriage of justice'
As per the doctors, the problem has cropped up only since 2010. "We have already approached Women's commission and NHRC and got necessary support but when something unexpected comes up after discussion with Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) office we need additional steps to deal with it," said another post.

When contacted by MiD DAY, the administration assured us of action."Yes, we are aware of the issue. The director has issued a letter for these residents that they will get proper maternity leave now," said Dr Vineet Chaudhary, Deputy Director, Administration, AIIMS.

"It's a government rule. How can they not grant them maternity leave? I would definitely ask them to give me their representation, so that I can help them. Such issues should be taken care of," said Barkha Singh, Chairman, National Commission for Women (NCW).

Did you know?
Recent research confirms that stress and anxiety resulting from long working hours, jobs with high physical demands, temporary contracts and shift duties are associated with increased incidence of low
birth weight babies [under 2,500g] and preterm births.

What the law says
Under the provisions of the Maternity Benefits Act, you are entitled to maternity benefits at an average daily wage for a period of six weeks from a day before your delivery to six weeks following that day. The average daily wage is calculated on the basis of your daily wages during the period of three calendar months immediately proceeding the date you absented yourself on account of maternity, or the minimum wage rate, whichever is higher. To be eligible you should have worked for not less than 80 days in the 12 months immediately prior to the date of your expected delivery. You are entitled to a maximum period of 12 weeks as maternity benefit. In the unfortunate event of a miscarriage, you must provide relevant proof of the miscarriage to avail the medical benefits. Another important provision under the Maternity Benefits Act is that if you are ill on account of your pregnancy or if you have delivered prematurely, you are entitled to a maximum period of one month in addition to your maternity leave.