The Odisha Human Rights Commission has asked the State government to facilitate creche facilities in all government agencies having fifty or more women staff strength.
The rights panel comprising chairperson Justice Vijayakrishna Patel, Member Justice Raghubir Das and Member Asim Amitabh Das passed an order yesterday and directed the State Chief Secretary and Women and Child Development Secretary to implement the order within the next six months.
The non-implementation of provision of crèche in Maternity Benefit Act 1961 as amended in 2017 by the government agencies had earlier been brought to the notice of OHRC by rights activists Bijay Kumar Panda, Golekh Prasad Nayak, Subhasis Panda, Prakash Chandra Das and Biswapriya Kanungo.
“As per provision under section 11 (A), every establishment having fifty or more employees should have the facilities of a crèche. Hundreds of women are working in the State Secretariat, we find not a single crèche facility available for children,” said Mr. Kanungo.
“Denial of such crèche facilities in workplaces affects growth of newborn babies. Women workers’ work is also adversely affected”, he pointed out in the petition.