Chandigarh: Punjab Finance Minister Advocate Harpal Singh Cheema, who also heads the Cabinet Sub-Committee on employee issues, announced on Friday that the state government has issued a notification granting maternity leave benefits to ASHA and ASHA Facilitators in line with the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961.
The announcement came during a series of meetings with representatives from five employee organizations at the Punjab Secretariat. Cheema congratulated the ‘ASHA Workers Te Facilitators Nirol Union’, noting that under the new notification, ASHA workers and facilitators will now receive a fixed monthly honorarium while availing maternity leave. He also confirmed that future amendments to the Act will automatically apply to them.
Union representatives welcomed the decision, calling it a long-awaited relief. In the meetings, leaders from several employee bodies, including the Janglaat Workers Union, Adarsh School Teaching Non-Teaching Mulazam Union, E.T.T TET Pass Adhyapak Association (Jai Singh Wala), and Beruzgar PSTET Pass Art & Craft Sangharsh Union, also put forth their concerns.
Cheema directed the concerned departments to take immediate action on legitimate demands and asked officials to draft proposals for issues related to the Finance Department for prompt consideration. He reiterated the government’s commitment to resolving employee concerns and assured that the dialogue process would continue with further meetings aimed at swift resolutions.
