& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

PM for 6-month maternity leave

UNB, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said maternity leave should be increased to six months from the present four months. “Maternity leave should be increased to six months. I think four months' maternity leave is not enough for the mothers to take best care of their new bom babies," the premier said while speaking at a function at Osmani Memorial auditorium in the capital.
Bangladesh government and Unicef jointly arranged the function markingthe Safe Motherhood Day observed on May 28.
A total of 27 health facilities from seven divisions have received best performance awards. The prime minister distributed the awards among the recipients.
On maternity leave, Hasinasaid her previous government had increased maternity leave to four months.
"Nowadays the mothers usually take one or two babies. So I think if they are given six months leave, it will not hamper anything,” she said.
Justifying her stand for increasing the maternity leave, she said after six months, a baby attains the capacity to take hard foods.
The PM also called for setting up Mothers' Corner and Day-care centres at all government and non-government offices, shopping malls, buses, rail stations and all other public places.
"A working mother, having a new bom baby, has to attend office keeping her baby at home. That's why mothers cannot be attentive at office while the baby also does not get the best care of mother,” she said.
On the Mothers' Comer, the PM said mothers must be given an ideal environment for breast-feeding while she stays in office.
Hasina also suggested the young mothers to live in joint families instead of going for single family.
“Unfortunately, young generation are becoming materialistic. They want to get their own single family. But if the young mothers stay in joint family, their children can get better care,” she said.
Drawing attention to gender discrimination in the society, Hasina requested guardians of the families including mother-in-laws, neighbours, husbands and all relatives to be more careful to the expecting women.
Hasina revealed that the
government in a fresh move is going to appoint 13,500 community health providers in a bid to provide mothers and children with more quality services.
Besides, 13,500 skilled birth attendants will be created by 2,015 to ensure safe child delivery athome, Hasina revealed.
Moreover, the government is giving 6 months' training to women field health workers on midwifery activities, she said.
Apart from the field workers, senior family members like grandmothers and aunts can be given training on midwifery, she added.
“If we can train the grandmothers, then pressure on the field workers will be reduced,” the premier said.
The premier also said the present government is strongly committed to providing all citizens of the country with modern and quality health services.
She said the government is working with an aim of reducing maternal mortality rate to 1.5 percent from the present rate of 3.8percentbytheyear2021.
Hasina said the last Awami League government had taken steps to set up one community health clinic for each 6,000 persons and 10,723 clinics were established under the project
But the next BNP-Jamaat government had dropped the project. "However, we again have started giving services at 9,722 community health clinics," she said.
Health Secretary Sheikh Altaf Ali presided over the function while Health Minister A F M Ruhal Haque and State Minister for Health Affairs Captain (retd) Mojibar Rahman Fakir, among others, addressed in the meeting.