Tamil Nadu has announced that women government employees will now be eligible for 365 days of maternity leave even for the birth of a third child, increasing it from the earlier 12-week provision.
The announcement was made in the State Assembly during discussions on the grant demands for the Human Resources Management Department, the Public Works Department and the Highways Department. Ministers Sarathkumar and Aadhav Arjuna presented replies and released new initiatives for their departments.
Human Resources Management Minister Sarathkumar said maternity leave had been provided for 365 days for married women employees with two children, while those with two or more children were earlier limited to 12 weeks. Citing the government’s priority for social welfare and women’s development, he said the third-child maternity leave would be enhanced to 365 days.
The minister also announced a mobile app named “Vetripathai” to help aspirants preparing for central and state competitive exams, to be developed at a cost of Rs 20 lakh. Other initiatives included a five-storey additional annex building for the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission at Rs 12.5 crore, a social media monitoring centre under the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption, upgrades to training facilities, and plans to restructure 150 government services for online delivery under an “Easy Governance” initiative.
Public Works Minister Aadhav Arjuna outlined proposals such as building government structures in urban areas to global standards, simplifying contractor registration, and using AI-enabled building management for maintenance of government hospitals. He also said feasibility studies would be taken up for an expressway linking Chennai, Thoothukudi and Coimbatore with national and state highways, and announced a road safety initiative with an annual allocation of Rs 500 crore to reduce fatalities from road accidents in the state.
