Male Central Govt Employees Now Entitled to Child Care Leave as Single Parents

Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Monday said male government employees who are single parents will now be entitled to child care leave.

“Single male parent” includes employees who are unmarried, widower or divorcee and may, therefore, be expected to take up the responsibility of caring for a child single-handedly, the minister of state for PMO and Department of Personnel and Training said, adding they would now be able to avail child care leave (CCL).

While the minister’s statement came on Monday, a decision on the matter had been taken by earlier by the department.

“It is a path-breaking and progressive reform which will bring ease of living for government servants. The orders regarding this had been issued quite some time back but somehow did not receive enough circulation in the public,” the minister said.

The government employee availing CCL can be granted 100 per cent of leave salary for the first year and 80 per cent of leave salary for the second year. So far, only women civil servants could avail two years of paid child care leave.

In case of a disabled child, there is more relief for central government employees. Earlier, this leave could be availed for a disabled child up to 22 years of age. Now, the age limit has been removed by the union government.

As an added relaxation, government employee availing CCL can also now leave the headquarters with prior approval of the competent authorities.

In addition, the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) may be availed by the employee even if he is on CCL, a statement said.

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