 bill no 43 of 2018 the maternity benefit (amendment) bill, 2018 by shri shivaji adhalrao patil, mp a billfurther to amend the maternity benefit act, 1961be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-ninth year of the republic of  india as follows:—1 (1) this act may be called the maternity benefit (amendment) act, 2018short title and commencement(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appointamendment of section 353 of 196152 in section 3 of the maternity benefit act, 1961 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act),—(a) after clause (c), the following clause shall be inserted, namely:—"(ca) 'doctor' means registered gynaecologist practicing in registered hospital or maternity centre of the appropriate government;";(b) after clause (g), the  following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—"(g) 'laboratory' means registered laboratory having facility of pathology tests, blood tests, ultrasounds and related facilities;";  and (c) after clause (k) the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—5"(ka) 'pregnant woman' means a woman who at the time of pregnancy has either no living child or only one living child; and''(kb) 'pregnancy period' means period of time before delivery;"3 after section 4 of the principal act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—| insertion     | of      ||---------------|---------|| new           | section || 4a           |         || 10            |         || right to pre- |         || maternity     |         || benefit      |         |"4a (1) every pregnant woman during the pregnancy period shall be entitled to avail half day paid leave as pre-meternity benefit for every routine health check-up or undergoing medical tests prescribed by a doctor subject to a maximum of five half days paid leave in a month:15provided that if a pregnant woman undergoes medical tests prescribed by doctor on the day of routine health check-up, such woman shall be eligible to avail two half days paid leave on the same day(2) every pregnant women entitled to payment of pre-maternity benefit under subsection (1) shall furnish the prescription of doctor and payment receipt of laboratory to avail the benefit"4 after section 21 of the principal act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—| insertion     | of      ||---------------|---------|| new           | section || 21a          |         || 20            |         || penalty       | for     || not providing |         || pre-maternity |         || benefit      |         |"21a if any employer contravenes the provisions of section 4a, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to one year and with fine which shall not be less than two thousand rupees but which may extend to five thousand rupees" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsevery pregnancy is special and every pregnant woman should receive special careany pregnant woman can develop life-threatening complications with little or no advance warning, so all pregnant women need access to quality antenatal services to detect and prevent life-threatening complications during childbirthwith the implementation of several schemes and campaigns like pradhan mantri surakshit matritva abhiyan mortality rate has reduced during pregnancy and delivery, but the goal of safe mother and safe child is yet to be achieved in our country maternity benefit act, 1961 was enacted to provide benefits of continous paid leave pre and post delivery but this act doesn't cover the paid leave required by a pregnant woman for regular visits for health checkups and for other related services in many cases, many working pregnant women either defer or do not go for regular checkups as they cannot afford half day or day off or they are denied leaves to undergo visit to doctoras per latest data of the rapid survey on children (2013-14), the institutional deliveries in india are 787 per cent inspite of this massive increase in the number of pregnant women coming to institutions for delivery, till date only 618 per cent women receive first anc in first trimester (rsoc) and the coverage of full anc is as low as 197 per cent (rsoc)despite availability of treatment guidelines, mechanisms for monitoring and supportive supervisions, regular training of  healthcare providers at different levels across the country, maternal mortality rate with mmr of 167 per 1,00,000 live births still remains timely detection of risk factor during pregnancy and childbirth can prevent deaths due to five preventable causes in this context to build a healthy india and to save working mothers life and safe delivery, it is necessary to provide paid leave to working pregnant woman of our countrythe bill, therefore, seeks to amend the maternity benefit act, 1961 with a view to provide for half day paid leave as pre-maternity benefit to every pregnant woman for every routine health check-up or undergoing medical tests prescribed by a doctor subject to a maximum of five half days paid leave in a monthhence this billnew delhi;shivaji adhalrao patiljanuary 17, 2018 financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill provide for half day paid leave as pre-maternity benefit to every pregnant woman for every routine health check-up or undergoing medical tests prescribed by a doctor subject to a maximum of five half days paid leave in a month the bill, therefore, if enacted, will involve expenditure from the consolidated fund of india it is estimated that a sum of rupees five hundred crore  may involve as recurring expenditure per annumno non-recurring expenditure is likely to involve annexure extract from the maternity benefit act, 1961 (53 of 1961)    definitions3 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—    (c) "delivery" means the birth of a child;    (g) "inspector" means an inspector appointed under section 14;    (k) "plantation" means a plantation as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the plantations labour act, 1951 (69 of 1951);     lok  sabha———— a billfurther to amend the maternity benefit act, 1961————(shri shivaji adhalrao patil,  mp)mgipmrnd—3993ls(s3)—08-02-2018