Beet S18 THT. STS. SIA THA God /316 (3A )/ 2021-22 08 Ff 2022 a. oer, Baio gar 2. Renrduas, urdtorar art Y omeoneat & ware NABARD lam pages onomeadl F niger peenfeat & ferg Rrevaa Paro aa Grievance Redressal Mechanism for women employees in RRBs BA FHP AT All India Regional Rural Bank Employees Association, Hyderabad @ yrta fete 31 wad 2022 & ua aH Ufa a 25 Sad ae ore EAT Re one steers ree ba ae te ad: DRSTAS 8. means Say ona he geo Bra RRBs BH GUYae AMiaRls @. We are enclosing a copy of letter No. 25 dated 31 January 2022 received from All India Regional Rural Bank Employees Association, Hyderabad, which is self-explanatory, for your information and further necessary action, if any. The Sponsor Banks may please guide the sponsored RRBs appropriately in the matter. wad AN se a chara) Terme Fede dere: ala zigta pie site afer faera ga National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development vate wr -2e, Oh wif, ainr-gret emer, ater cpt, Yae- 00 051. Beh: +91 22 26524043 «Pre. +91 22 26530089 € Fat idd@nabardon, Institutional Develpoment Department Plot No. 24,6’ Block, Bandra-Kurla Complex, Bandea (E), Mumbai - 400 051 + Tal: +91 22 26524849 + Fax: #91 22 26530089 + E-mailidd@nabard org» aN iz All India Regional Rural Bank Employees Association (Confederation of National Federation of RRB Officers, National Federation of RRB Employees & National Federation of Retired RRB Staff) "Classic Arcade", Plot No. 492, Flat No. 201, Matrusri Nagar, Miyapur, Hyderabad - '§00049 Central Office : Golders Green, Ground Floor, F-G Block, 1 Nazrul Islam Avenue (VIP Road), Kaikhali, Kolkata 700 052. Ph- 033-25734176 Mob: - 09440483274 Email - airrbeal@gmail.com, airrbeal@yahoo.com, airrbeal@rediffmail.com President CRapomn Secretary General ~ 5 Venkatoswar Rey Ref. No. 25 Date : 31.01.2022 To The Chairman, All 43 Regional Rural Banks Sir, SUB: - ANGUISH OVER TREATMENT TO WOMEN EMPLOYEES IN RRBS: It is very much appreciable that more number of women are joining the RRBs in different cadres and are playing active role in the business development. But, we are constrained to receive number of representations from Women on different types of difficulties / discriminations faced by them including that of sexual harassments at some RRBs. Women participants in our National Women Convention held recently at Guwahati, on the occasion of our All India Conference, have raised several issues faced by them in respective RRBs. We bring some of the following to your notice and request you to see that these issues are not confronted in your RRB and a fair working environment is ensured to women employees for all round development of the Bank. POSTING / TRANSFER / DEPUTATION: 1. As per the extant instructions of GOI to all Banks, the women employees have to be posted / transferred at a place where spouse is working or nearest to the place of their parents, if not married or a single women. 2. Women employees are supposed to be posted at a branch /office where separate wash room for women with water is available and also the Center should have suitable accommodation with basic amenities like medical and educational facilities to obviate commuting from other Centers. 3. Women employees may not be sent on temporary transfer or on deputation to far off places, where she can neither commute nor she can stay singly in a new place with panic and insecurity.4. Women employees are not to be transferred / deputed in the mid of academic year or before completion of the term which cause serious hardship to not only to the employee but to the children and dependent elders in education and health issues. Any intentional or unintentional violations of the above will be construed as discriminatory, arbitrary to gender equality and other statutory benefits available to a female employee as per extant guidelines. LEAVES / SICK LEAVE/ SABBATICAL LEAVE: Women employees have certain special physiological issues and also family responsibilities, which need to be understood by the administration in conceding their request for leaves, without raising sarcastic queries of humiliation to women. In case of sick leave or other leave on sick grounds, the Medical Certificates can be obtained later and the employee should be allowed to attend the ailment first without any stress and tension. Sabbatical leave is a women’s right to attend to family or personal needs and cannot be denied in times of need. It is in line with the special laws enacted by Government as per the Article 15(3) of the Constitution of India under the principle of substantive equality to protect women and children. The concept of gender equality is envisaged as one of the most supreme laws of India. MATERNITY LEAVE: A woman has both the rights, ie. her reproductive rights, and also the right to employment. State or any authority does not reserve any right to curtail the freedom of a woman to chose of having a child. The managements must understand the enormous. amount of physical pains and mental stress a women undergoes in a delivery. An employer requires to be considerate and sympathetic to a woman going on maternity leave so that one can overcome the state of motherhood honorably, peacefully, undeterred by the fear of being victimized for forced deferment of placement during pre or post natal period. Women employees seeking maternity leave have to be sanctioned as and when sought, without any sort of queries or insulting / indecent comments. And the employee must be posted at the same place she went on maternity leave or in the same center, without causing any mental agony of placement. ‘There are many instances, where women employees are forced to choose between her duties towards her children / family or her career as working woman, eventually women have resigned from RRBs, which is not voluntary and amounts to coercion and hence is a deemed dismissal. Therefore Courts have held that such women are entitled to be reinstated unconditionally, while stringent actions were contemplated against the responsible authorities. DISCRIMINATION IN APPOINTMENTS: Just a day back, there has been a widespread uproar and criticism on SBI, when they have introduced a new discriminatory condition that women candidates selected for appointments if found pregnant of over three months were considered unfit for 2appointment till four months after their delivery. SBI has to take back its gender biased condition immediately in a day on intervention of National Women Commission, Ministry of Finance and from all corners. We learnt that similar negative conditions are incorporated by some RRBs also, which needs to be withdrawn at once to avoid reference to the agencies concerned. SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORKPLACE: Instances of sexual harassments or silent Exploitation by deputed officers or other staff were also brought to our notice, which we are not divulging for the sake of sensitivity, but are known to the respective managements. We request for immediately attending and curtailing of any such incidents. And also, we request you to immediately constitute a Grievance Redressal Committee by posting a women liaison officer at Head office and at each of the Regional Offices, if not done already, and see that all the concerns of the women are attended in all fairness and sincerity. As per Apex Court directions, there should be a proper Complaint Mechanism of sexual harassment at the workplace and also an effective resolution of the grievances. No employee should leave or resign the bank due to sexual harassment or any such compelling circumstances. RRBs are public sector banks of the country. Any disrespect to women will be most unbecoming as well as violating the provisions of the Constitution of India and depriving several facilities available to a female employee as prevailing in the industry. We solicit your immediate attention against any type of gender discrimination and demotivation to the women employees in the RRBs. With regards, Yours faithfully, Sa (S Venkateswar Reddy) GENERAL SECRETARY Copy for kind information and necessary action to: 1, The Joint Secretary, DFS, GOI, MOF - jsfil-dfs@nic.in 2. The Chief General Manager, IDD, NABARD , Mumbai - idd@nabard.org