A 26-year-old woman insured under the ESI Act delivers her second child. She has fulfilled the contributory conditions. For how many weeks is maternity benefit payable under the ESI scheme, and at what rate?

• A 12 weeks at 70 percent of wages
• B 12 weeks at full wage
• C 26 weeks at 70 percent of wages
• D 26 weeks at full wage ✓

Explanation

Following the 2017 revision aligned with the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, maternity benefit under ESI is payable for 26 weeks for the first two live births, at the rate of full daily wage. The older figure of 12 weeks persists in outdated material and is the strongest distractor, and the 70 percent rate belongs to ordinary sickness benefit, not maternity benefit.

Reference: Park's Textbook of Preventive and Social Medicine, 27th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.