Facing Maternity Leave Denial After Approval: What Steps Should We Take Next?

My wife works as a contract teacher in an MCD school in Delhi with a contract from 10th October 2021 to 15th June 2022. However, she was admitted to the hospital on 10th June due to a pregnancy-related emergency and gave birth to a baby girl via surgery on 13th June 2022. We informed both the school and the department about this on 16th June 2022 and applied for maternity leave starting from 10th June.

Her contract was renewed on 1st July 2022 until 30th March 2023 by the MCD Delhi Education Department. On July 4th, 2022, her department issued a maternity leave order covering the period from 10th June 2022 to 6th December 2022. We communicated this order to the school as well. However, they are now refusing to provide her salary, claiming that the issued order is not valid, and insisting that my wife must return to work immediately with no maternity leave granted. Can someone please guide me on what steps I should take next?

School's Order Against Resuming Duty

The order from the school asking to resume duty is definitely inappropriate and contradicts the established rules. First of all, the school management cannot determine the validity of the order passed by the Education Department. According to the Delhi School Education Act 1973, schools must operate under the directions given by the Administrator (i.e., the Education Department). If they disagree, they must seek legal recourse, but such directions cannot be ignored.

Importantly, what the school claims is against government policy and the relevant rules. If the school has issued any order denying maternity benefits, as stated in the query, it should be reported to the Education Department, Delhi Government. The rest will be addressed accordingly.