For the employees of aided colleges under the state’s Department of Higher Education, the state government increased the maternity leave period to six months, from the current 90 days.
All eligible women working in the higher education department can avail of the benefit of the maternity leave duration, which was 90 days earlier and has been increased to 180 days.
For recruitment in government jobs, the Odisha state cabinet also raised the upper age limit from 32 to 38 years. “The relaxation in the upper age limits will be initially applicable for three years-2021, 2022, and 2023. The upper age limit for candidates belonging to SC/ST and SEBC categories has been increased to 43 years. Similarly, the upper age limit will be 43 years for women candidates,” Chief Secretary Suresh Mohapatra said.
As an impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns and other restrictions in 2020, the state said, there will be no new jobs in the government sector except for the health and family welfare department for the next two years.
Maternity leave was raised from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, under the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017. From six to eight weeks, the prenatal leave was also extended.
Taking the active caseload in the state to 27,216 Odisha has reported 7,071 fresh Covid-19 cases. According to the state information and public relations department, out of the total 7071 cases, 2,943 are local contact cases while 4,128 were detected in quarantine.
