Assam’s Novel Scheme To Encourage Its Employees Take Care Of Their Parents Gathers Steam, Draws Wholesome Praise

A heartening scheme unveiled by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma two years ago has picked up pace with thousands of state government employees and public representatives taking short breaks from work to spend time with their parents and in-laws. 

Sarma, who is known for rolling out innovative and people-friendly schemes, unveiled the Matri Pitri Vandana scheme in 2021 to encourage public representatives (MPs, MLAs, Municipal Councillors and representatives in various elected bodies) as well as state government employees to take care of their parents and in-laws. 

This novel initiative has received a major boost with the Assam government announcing special casual leave on January 9 and 10 for employees who wish to spend time with their parents or in-laws. January 11 being the second Saturday of the month (a state holiday in Assam) and January 12 being a Sunday, employees can thus spend four full days with their parents or in-laws, chief minister Sarma told Swarajya. 

The scheme, a brainchild of chief minister Sarma, has become popular among state government employees and has elicited wholesome praise from tens of thousands of elderly parents. Sarma’s office has been flooded with letters of appreciation and gratitude from thankful parents. 

To make the process of availing leave to spend time with parents and in-laws easier, the state government has unveiled a Matri Pitri Vandana portal through which state government employees can apply for and avail special casual leave. 

The Assam government will notify such special casual leave twice a year for two days at a time. The days will precede or follow at least two state or public holidays, or weekends including second or fourth Saturdays. 

In order to prevent misuse of this facility, employees who avail the special casual leave have to upload photos of their time spent in leisure activities at home or outdoors with their parents or in-laws. These photos are uploaded on the state portal and can be viewed by any visitor. This, say senior officials of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), ensures that employees do not upload false photos. 

Departments heads have cautioned employees availing of this facility against its misuse. “Employees have been forewarned that if they spend the special leave for ‘personal merriment’, or if they do not spend time with their parents or in-laws and upload fake photos, they will be heavily penalised,” said an officer of the CMO. 

Chief minister Sarma told Swarajya that the purpose of the scheme is twofold: to encourage employees to take care of their parents and thus enable them to spend quality time with the elderly, and also address the issue of loneliness faced by the elderly. 

“Nuclear families have become the norm since many work away from their native places and, thus, cannot take adequate care of their parents who feel lonely and dejected. This scheme is aimed at strengthening familial bonds and ensuring that children care for their elderly parents,” said Sarma. 

The chief minister has been propagating this scheme and has given it wide publicity on social media (see this) as well as newspapers (like this). He also talks about it during his frequent meetings with state employees. 

The issue--of grown-ups taking good care of their parents--is close to Sarma’s heart and he speaks about it very passionately. “It is sad to see children not spending time with their elderly parents or not taking good care of them. All parents sacrifice such a lot in raising their children, giving the best possible education, nutrition, healthcare and other necessities to them. When parents grow old, they need their children’s affection and care and it is completely unacceptable that some ungrateful children neglect their parents,” the chief minister said. 

Sarma added that very often, people get so caught up in their work and personal lives that they have little time to devote to their parents even if they want to. The ‘Matri Pitri Vandana’ scheme takes care of this. 

Even before becoming the chief minister, Sarma initiated action on this issue. As health minister in the government headed by his predecessor Sarbananda Sonowal, Sarma piloted the Assam Employees' Parent Responsibility & Norms For Accountability & Monitoring Act, 2017, also called the PRANAM Act. 

This state law, which was amended in 2021 to make it more stringent, makes it obligatory for state government employees to take good care of their dependent parents or physically challenged siblings who don’t have adequate sources of income to ensure a decent and dignified lifestyle. 

Any employee who fails to take proper care of his or her parents or physically challenged sibling will have 15 per cent of his or her monthly gross salary deducted at source. The deducted portion of the salary shall go directly to the accounts of the dependent parents or physically challenged sibling. 

The preamble to the PRANAM Act says that “respect and service to one’s parents is the central obligation of children that is an integral part of the Indian family system for ages” and explains that while instances of negligence of parents by their children are increasing, it is necessary to put in place easily enforceable norms to “rekindle family values”. 

The PRANAM Act and the ‘Matri Pitri Vandana’ scheme, say sociologists, are triggering an easily discernible change in society. “There have been quite a number of cases of state government employees being penalised for neglecting their parents or physically challenged siblings. The publicity that such cases have attracted have sent out a strong message to society that neglecting one’s dependent parents is unacceptable and against societal norms,” said sociologist Kaustav Phukan. 

Meena Rajkonwar, who teaches sociology at a leading college in Guwahati, told Swarajya that when a prominent personality like chief minister Sarma leads a campaign to look after one’s parents in their old age with such passion and sincerity, it is bound to yield positive results. 

“The chief minister is a hugely influential personality and people listen to him. When he advocates taking care of parents and upholding traditional family values, it has a huge impact on people. People of Assam know by now that the chief minister means what he says, and when he asks people to take care of their parents, they know he means business,” said Rajkonwar.

An essay written by Sanghamitra Phukan, a section officer in the public works department posted in Guwahati, that was published in an Assamese periodical recently provides a first-hand account of the positive fallout of the Assam government’s initiatives. 

She writes about a junior employee in her section against whom a complaint (about neglecting his parents) was received. “The complaint was found out to be true and ten percent of his (the errant employee’s) gross salary started getting deducted and was being sent directly to his father’s bank account. After two months, this employee went to his aged parents and fell at their feet begging forgiveness. Now he has brought his parents from his native Sivasagar town to stay with him in Guwahati and looks after them very well,” she wrote. 

But that was not all. A few other employees in her office who realised they were not looking after their parents fell in line very quickly and rectified themselves on their own. “One employee realised that the amount of money he was sending to his parents in Tezpur was not enough and he increased the amount on his own,” she wrote. 

The essay drew wide appreciation and comments. Many wrote to say that they had witnessed an attitudinal change among government employees towards their parents. Many elderly people also wrote to the periodical saying that they have benefited from the new legislation and their children are now looking after them on their own volition. 

“This sort of legislation (the Pranam Act) and initiatives like the ‘Matri Pitri Vandana’ are worthy of wholesome praise. They will have a concrete and positive impact on society. In a state like Assam where the state is the largest employer, such state initiatives will have a cumulative effect not just on government employees and their families, but on society as a whole,” said Debakanta Baruah, a retired IAS officer.