Chief Minister of Sikkim Prem Singh Tamang, announced that the Sikkim government will provide one long year of maternity leave and one month of paternity leave to the government employees of his state. The CM mentioned about the maternity scheme while addressing the annual general meeting of the Sikkim State Civil Service Officers’ Association (SSCSOA).
During his address, Prem Singh Tamang said that there will be changes made in the service rule that would provide benefits to the people of the state. He added saying that all the details of the benefits will be notified soon. The CM also asserted that by this move the government employees will be able to take good care of their children and families.
Under the Maternity Benefit Act 1962, a working woman is entitled to a maternity leave of 6 months or 26 weeks. The Himalayan state has the lowest population in the county with 6.32 lakh.
While addressing the general meeting of SSCSOA, he applauded all the officers of the state and said that the officers are the backbone of the state administration and have contributed contributing to the outstanding work for the growth and development of Sikkim and its people as per the PTI report. He added that the number of promotions of civil services officers has increased due to the significant focus on streamlining the promotion process of civil service officers.
Back in 2022, CM launched the “Vatsalya” Scheme
CM Prem Singh Tamang, in the year 2022, launched a scheme called the “Vastsalya” Scheme. This scheme will provide benefit women and increase the fertility rate in Sikkim. This is a women-centric scheme where an amount of Rs. 3 Lakhs of financial help for treating infertility would be given to couples whose facing difficulty in conceiving and the couple can undergo In- Vitro Fertilization(IVF) treatment.
The state government has also launched various programs like “Mobile Village clinics “with the aim of providing health services in the remotest area of Sikkim. There’s another scheme that provides a mother empowerment plan called Aama Sashaktikaran Yojna”, Mukhya Mantri Swasthya Suvidha Yojna” is for health insurance for MR/Adhoc/Contractual/Probationary Employees.
Other Benefits provided to the employees of Sikkim
In an official notification, the government is planning to boost the indigenous communities and population in Sikkim, hence it has been decided by the government to provide advance and additional increments to employees who are having two are three children within a family.
The employees from the Sikkim government that are owning the Sikkim Subject Certificate/Certificate of Identification will be getting an advance increment for having two surviving children. This notification was informed by the Department of Personnel Secretary Rinzing Chewang Bhutia on May 10, PTI said in a report.
Employees having three surviving children in the family shall get one additional increment and this advance increment can be claimed by anyone from the spouses through mutual understanding.
The scheme is already been implemented from January 1, 2024, and this scheme will be benefited only those employees whose second and third children are born on or after January 1, 2024.
