SBI Withdraws 'Discriminatory' Circular on Pregnant Women Recruits After Outrage

Bank withdraws new rule after outrage including notice from DCW, letters from MP and employees association.

Following a furore and interventions from the Delhi Commission for Women, a Rajya Sabha MP and its own employees' union, the State Bank of India has withdrawn a controversial circular which said that new women recruits who are more than three months pregnant will be considered 'temporarily unfit' and can only join work four months after giving birth.

After noting that SBI has been proactive towards the care and employment of its women employees and that 25 percent of its workforce is now women, a press release by the bank said that it had decided to keep the revised policy in abeyance "in view of public sentiments".

Press release relating to news items about required fitness standards for recruitment in Bank. Revised instructions about recruitment of Pregnant Women candidates stands withdrawn.@DFS_India pic.twitter.com/QXqn3XSzKF

— State Bank of India (@TheOfficialSBI) January 29, 2022