The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has approved 180 days of paid maternity leave for outsourced women health workers employed under the National Urban Health Mission, following a protest by more than 1,700 workers over wages, delayed salaries and other workplace demands.
The municipal commissioner has approved the proposal, and the BMC is completing administrative procedures to issue a circular to the agency responsible for employing the workers. The provision is intended to give outsourced women employees financial security during maternity, according to information released by the civic administration.
The decision follows several days of protests by outsourced health workers at Azad Maidan. Their demands include implementation of revised minimum wages, timely payment of salaries and action on other workplace grievances. The workers are part of the health workforce serving Mumbai through the NUHM system.
Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde met a delegation of the protesting workers at her official residence on Wednesday and informed them about the steps taken by the civic administration. Tawde had visited the protest site on October 5 to hear the workers’ concerns and subsequently wrote to the administration seeking concrete action.
The Public Health Department later submitted an action-taken report to the mayor. In her meeting with the delegation, Tawde said the BMC stood with the outsourced health workers who had served Mumbai residents during the Covid-19 pandemic. She described the maternity leave approval as a significant relief and said the administration and state government were positive about the workers’ remaining demands.
The BMC has also taken penal action against DS Enterprises, the contractor agency responsible for the workers, over delays in salary payments. The agency has been issued strict instructions, the civic body said. The action places responsibility for payment-related irregularities on the contractor while the BMC works through its outsourcing arrangement for the health staff.
To address salary delays and other complaints, the civic administration plans to establish a grievance redressal committee headed by the Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Public Health. The committee will examine complaints and oversee appropriate action against the contractor where required.
The demand for revised minimum wages has not yet been implemented. The proposal is being sent to the Finance Department along with remarks from the Chief Labour Officer for consideration. This means the maternity leave decision has moved ahead of the wage revision demand, which remains under administrative review.
The next formal step on maternity leave is the issuance of the circular to the outsourced agency. The Finance Department’s consideration of revised minimum wages and the proposed grievance committee will determine how the workers’ other demands are addressed by the civic administration.
