Home City Review Fayose Increases Maternity Leave Period For Female Civil Servants

Fayose Increases Maternity Leave Period For Female Civil Servants

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The Ayodele Fayose-led government in Ekiti State Government has increased the maternity leave period of women in the state Public Service from 12 weeks to 16 weeks.

The Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Information, Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Kola Ajumobi who made this known at a forum in Ado Ekiti, explained that the gesture was aimed at encouraging exclusive breast feeding for the first six months of birth and to promote good nutrition.

Mr. Ajumobi added that nursing mothers would, in addition, be granted two hours off duty everyday for a period of six months from the date she resumed from maternity leave.

Reiterating the commitment of the Fayose led Government to the reduction of mothers and children’s mortality and morbidity rate to the barest minimum, Ajumobi said the crèche at the state secretariat has also been invigorated to boost bonding between mothers and their children during official working hours without undue hindrance to performance and efficiency at the workplace.

The Permanent Secretary lamented that the challenge of good nutrition, coupled with the question of poverty, hunger as well as lack of access to economic and political empowerment had hitherto largely contributed to what he described as a double tragedy of high maternal and child mortality.

He however noted that the present administration in the State has rolled various palliative packages exclusively for women to empower and guard them from avoidable travails.

Mr. Ajumobi listed the measures to include provision of N500million as revolving soft loan to promote small and medium Enterprises driven by women while women farmers would also be supported with various incentives.

According to him, government has also encouraged women’s access to political power while harmful traditional practices to woman’s nutritional and sexual reproductive health such as widowhood rites and inheritance have been criminalized in the state where rapists and wife beaters now face life sentences in jail.

Packaged by Omotoyosi Jesuleye

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