Bhubaneswar, July 3 -- https://images.odishatv.in/uploadimage/library/16_9/16_9_0/recent_photo_1738776607.JPG
In a landmark judgment, the Orissa High Court has ruled that maternity benefits must be extended to female employees irrespective of whether they are employed on a permanent, temporary, or contractual basis.
The decision was delivered while upholding an earlier single-judge order in favour of Anindita Mishra, a contractual employee with the State Health and Family Welfare Department.
The division bench comprising Justice Dixit Krishna Shripad and Justice Mruganka Sekhar Sahoo strongly rebuked the state's stance that contractual employees were not entitled to maternity leave.
"Denying maternity benefits on the basis of the nature...