Pregnant women candidates appearing for the physical ability test to get jobs of licensed porters with the Indian Railways will now be treated as temporarily “unfit” and would be given a chance to take the test later after being certified fit to carry heavy loads by a government doctor, states the latest order issued by the Railway Ministry.

The ministry has also decided to debar licensed porters from working during pregnancy until a government doctor deems them fit to lift heavy loads. The pregnant women porters debarred from work, however, will not be entitled to any compensation, the ministry has said.

The move follows a report in The Indian Express in July this year detailing how a six-month pregnant woman was allowed to participate in a physical test that required the participants to sprint 200 metres carrying 25 kg loads on their heads in less than four minutes to qualify for the written examination for recruitment as licensed railway porters. The test was being conducted by the North Central Railway (NCR) at Allahabad to fill up 344 vacancies in the Allahabad division.

The incident had generated some heat in the Parliament with Union Minister of State for Women and Child Development Krishna Tirath even asking the Railway Ministry to file a detailed report on the matter. “There is no restriction on women on choosing their profession. But asking a pregnant woman to run with some weight on her head is not done,” Tirath had said.