Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 20081
| [Act 15 of 2008, Repealed by Act 23 of 2016*] | [1st April, 2008] |
An Act further to amend the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
Be it enacted by Parliament in the Fifty-ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
1 Received the assent of the President on 1-4-2008 and published in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 1.
* Ed.: Act 15 of 2008 repealed by Act 23 of 2016, S. 2 & Sch. I. See also S. 4 of the Repealing and Amending Act, 2016:
"4. Savings.- The repeal by this Act of any enactment shall not affect any other enactment in which the repealed enactment has been applied, incorporated or referred to;
and this Act shall not affect the validity, invalidity, effect or consequences of anything already done or suffered, or any right, title, obligation or liability already acquired, accrued or incurred, or any remedy or proceeding in respect thereof, or any release or discharge of or from any debt, penalty, obligation, liability, claim or demand, or any indemnity already granted, or the proof of any past act or thing;
nor shall this Act affect any principle or rule of law, or established jurisdiction, form or course of pleading, practice or procedure, or existing usage, custom, privilege, restriction, exemption, office or appointment, notwithstanding that the same respectively may have been in any manner affirmed or recognised or derived by, in or from any enactment hereby repealed;
nor shall the repeal by this Act of any enactment revive or restore any jurisdiction, office, custom, liability, right, title, privilege, restriction, exemption, usage, practice, procedure or other matter or thing not now existing or in force."
Prefatory Note-Statement of Objects and Reasons.-The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 regulates the employment of women in factories, mines, the circus industry, plantations and shops or establishments employing 10 or more persons except the employees who are covered under the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) for certain periods before and after child-birth and provides for maternity and other benefits.
2. With the gradual extension of coverage under the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948 (ESI Act) which also provides for maternity and certain other benefits, the area of application of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 has shrunk to some extent. The coverage under the ESI Act is, however, at present restricted to factories and certain other specified categories of establishments located in specified areas. The Act is, therefore, still applicable to women employees employed in establishments which are not covered by the ESI Act, as also to women employees, employed in establishments covered by the ESI Act, but who are out of its coverage because of the wage-limit.
3. Under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, women employees are entitled to maternity benefit at the rate of average daily wage for the period of their actual absence up to 12 weeks due to the delivery. In cases of illness arising due to pregnancy, etc., they are entitled to additional leave with wages for a period of one month. They are also entitled to six weeks maternity benefit in case of miscarriage. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 also makes certain other provisions to safeguard the interest of pregnant women workers.
4. Section 8 of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 provides that every woman entitled to maternity benefit shall also be entitled to receive from her employer medical bonus of Rs 250, if no pre-natal confinement and post-natal care is provided for by the employer free of charge.
5. In the present economic scenario, it is felt that the medical bonus, which is presently Rs 250, is inadequate. Therefore, it is proposed-
(i) to raise the medical bonus payable under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 from Rs 250 to Rs 1000; and
(ii) to give powers to the Central Government to revise medical bonus from time to time subject to a maximum of Rs 20,000.
6. The Bill seeks to achieve the above objects.
1. Short title and commencement.-(1) This Act may be called the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2008.
(2) It shall come into force on such date1 as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
1 W.e.f 15-4-2008.
2. Substitution of new section for Section 8.-In the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 (53 of 1961), for Section 8, the following section shall be substituted, namely:-
"8. Payment of medical bonus.-(1) Every woman entitled to maternity benefit under this Act shall also be entitled to receive from her employer a medical bonus of one thousand rupees, if no pre-natal confinement and post-natal care is provided for by the employer free of charge.
(2) The Central Government may before every three years, by notification in the Official Gazette, increase the amount of medical bonus subject to the maximum of twenty thousand rupees.".