Maternity Benefits Research Articles

Experiences of workplace breastfeeding in a provincial government setting: a qualitative exploratory study among managers and mothers in South Africa

BackgroundReturn to employment is a major barrier to breastfeeding continuation, globally and in the Southern African context. The Lancet Breastfeeding Series revealed an explicit need for research exploring breastfeeding as a workplace issue in low- and middle-income countries. A dearth of research on workplace breastfeeding in South Africa calls for attention to this topic. This study sought to explore breastfeeding at work experiences from the perspective of employed mothers and senior managers in a provincial government setting in South Africa.MethodsThe study adopted an exploratory qualitative design with multi-perspective semi-structured interviews. Snowball sampling was employed to recruit twelve participants, senior managers (n = 4) and employed mothers (n = 8), from two provincial government departments in Cape Town, South Africa. Interviews were conducted between April and August 2018 to capture participants’ experiences with breastfeeding in the workplace. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data.ResultsFour key themes that described experiences of workplace breastfeeding emerged which further traversed three critical maternity periods: pregnancy, maternity leave, and return to work. The prevalent themes were: 1) Knowledge about the legislation and breastfeeding support benefits. Most participants only knew about the legislated four months maternity leave and time off for prenatal visits but lacked knowledge about comprehensive maternity benefits; 2) Perceptions and experiences of breastfeeding in the workplace. Breastfeeding was perceived to be a mother’s responsibility and a private issue. As a result, most participants stopped breastfeeding prior to or immediately upon return to work after maternity leave; 3) Barriers to breastfeeding continuation, such as the absence of a conversation about infant feeding plans between managers and mothers; and 4) Recommendations to improve breastfeeding support at work from an individual, organisational and national level.ConclusionsOur study contributions emphasise that breastfeeding support from managers should begin prior to the mother taking maternity leave, and that in addition to providing supportive facilities (such as private space and breastmilk storage), immediate supervisor support may be critical in fostering breastfeeding-friendly workplaces for mothers. Management implications for advancing workplace breastfeeding support in the public sector are presented.

Do Pregnant Women Using Smartphones Care About Their Privacy?

With a gigantic growth in internet and application usage, especially with the use of smartphones, ‘privacy' concerns reverberates and dealing with privacy issues from such an arena is a new task for many researchers. This wide usage of mobile application and internet opens up Pandora's box – ‘privacy concerns'. This paper tries to understand the privacy concern hovering among pregnant women. The study found that education, mHealth literacy, mobile app usage, and employment is a robust predictor of HIPC. However, age, social-economic status, maternity benefit scheme membership, pregnancy apps usage, mobile spending, mobile basic services usage does not play a significant role in HIPC. Overall, the results suggest that as users' awareness level on privacy policies and issues increase, privacy concern decreases.

A. Bogaevskiy. The meaning of maternity benefits in connection with antiseptics and asepsis. (Zemsky Doctor, 1894, No. 13-14)

The article presents the rch pronounced in the annual meeting of the Society of Kremenchug doctors.

Human capital as a fundamental determinant of rural development

The Krasnoyarsk territory is a vast area. According to the Federal State Service of the Statistic the territory population density is 1.2 people per 1 square km. Thus it makes some special demands on the quality of human capital, and it is human capital which makes it possible to develop both the rural territory and the entire economy as a whole. The problem is that human capital has suffered a lack of attention for many years. Among the ways to overcome this situation we see a number of necessary measures aimed at increasing wages for agricultural workers, improving the demographic situation, diversifying the areas of employment, improving labor conditions, and improving the quality of life. In this study, we used a sociological research method by applying a questionnaire we had compiled for the survey of rural residents. Here the author defines the term “human capital of the rural population” in her own opinion and lines up a system of indicators characterizing the basic components of the human capital of the rural population, such as health capital, education capital, labor capital, cultural and behavioral capital, as well as intellectual one. To overcome the negative situation taking place in rural areas of the Krasnoyarsk territory, it is necessary to assess human capital on the previously mentioned 5 basic components, and on base of the results to propose a socially attractive model for rural development, which in its turn will attract additional human capital. The proposed measures make it possible to increase employment in rural areas by creating agricultural cooperatives, small businesses and farms, and expand the ways of use of maternity benefit in the development of rural households and small businesses, to reduce the income tax rate for individual entrepreneurs who are registered in rural areas, as well as to increase the standards for the total area for housing construction for young families, and to apply digital forms of cultural and information services to the rural population.

Utilization of postnatal care services in a rural area of Nalgonda district, Telangana state, India

Background: Promoting women’s health improves not only individual health but also the health of the family, community and the nation. Less attention was given for postnatal period in developing countries; women and their newborns don’t receive postnatal care services from a skilled birth attendant during the first days after childbirth. The objective was to study utilization of postnatal care services by recently delivered mothers, to study the geographical accessibility factors influencing utilization of postnatal care services and to study healthcare provider factors influencing utilization of post natal care services.Methods: It was a community based cross sectional study conducted in Cherlapally and villages around, which constitute the rural field practice area of Department of SPM, Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally Telangana from September 2012 to October 2014. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data was compiled and analyzed using SPSS version 19.Results: Accordingly, 97.9% of the mothers received postnatal care and 2.7% mothers didn’t receive the postnatal care. In the present study post natal advice was received by 67.8%, 82.2% and 55.1% of mothers regarding family planning, breast feeding and baby care respectively. Majority (79.9%) of mothers travelled greater than 5 kms for delivery and only 20.1% of mothers travelled less than 5 kms for delivery.Conclusions: Number of institutional deliveries and deliveries assisted by skilled health personnel were more compared to other studies probably because of awareness created during antenatal visits, maternity benefit scheme and role of ASHA workers.

State, Policy and Gender at the Workplace in India: A Comparison Over Time

This article seeks to compare the effect of gendered perceptions of labour on women’s presence in the workforce in early 20th-century colonial India, as nascent industry sprang up in several parts of the country, and towards the end of the 20th century. We compare the entry and exit of women workers in the mill industry of South India in the first half of the 20th century with the informalisation of labour in the fish processing industry, whose workforce was predominantly women, in the 1990s. The regulation of women’s work by means of protective laws that sheltered them from “hazardous” work and mandated benefits such as creches at the workplace and maternity benefits conditioned women’s employment in multiple ways, ranging from how they were resented and mistreated by male workers and how organised unions debated and finally championed equal wages for equal work to how women got excluded altogether. After independence, protective laws and regulations grew in number and women’s participation in the labour force steadily came down. One way to cross the hurdle to women’s large-scale employment raised by protective legislation is to employ women on informal terms. This means walking the thin line, on the part of employers, between observing the law on contract workers and their benefits in letter and complying with the law in spirit. The fish processing industry that came up along the Indian coastline is a good example of informality at the workplace mediated by gender. Differences in gender perceptions across India’s culturally varied regions explains why most workers in the fish processing industry hail from one single state, Kerala.

Tracking India’s Progress on Addressing Malnutrition Will Require Strengthening Survey and Administrative Data Systems

Abstract Objectives India has a nutrition policy framework that includes several evidence-based interventions. However, the availability of data to analyze coverage, assess equity and track progress on scaling up interventions is not known. We assessed data availability for nutrition interventions by reviewing multiple data systems in India. Methods Using the national policy framework, we identified 55 nutrition interventions for which coverage data were necessary to track progress. We examined questionnaires of three major household surveys. We also assessed monitoring data available in three major administrative systems. We summarized overall data availability by type of data system and across the life course. Results Of the 55 interventions, six interventions had data across all data sources. For nine interventions, no data was available from any source. For the remaining 46 interventions, data is available from at least one data source. Surveys had data on 36 interventions and administrative systems had data on 42 interventions. However, data definitions and denominators vary by source, making comparisons challenging. For adolescents, coverage data is scarce both in surveys and administrative systems. For pregnancy, multiple data sources are available on antenatal care, but gaps exist for nutrition interventions such as calcium supplementation, counseling and maternity benefits. For delivery and postnatal care, data is available on institutional deliveries and postnatal care but is limited for kangaroo mother care and breastfeeding counseling. Data is very limited for newborn care interventions. For early childhood, 9 of 13 interventions are available from different data sources. Conclusions Data on India's nutrition interventions are available from multiple sources but vary by intervention and by life-stage. Data are often not comparable across sources. Multiple data sources for some interventions requires careful reconciliation of findings from survey and administrative data systems. Data stewardship is critical to ensure effective use of data. Funding Sources Data for Decisions to Expand Nutrition Transformation (DataDENT) and Partnerships and Opportunities to Strengthen and Harmonize Actions for Nutrition in India (POSHAN), supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Demand side financing scheme for maternal and child health of Tamil Nadu: evaluation of benefit received status and awareness level among third trimester pregnant mothers, seeking care at Madurai Medical College Hospital, 2019

Background: Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme (MRMBS) of Tamil Nadu Government is demand side financing scheme to poor pregnant mothers to compensate wage loss and for nutritional support. Scheme was revised during 2018. Primary objectives were to estimate proportion of benefit received status and median awareness level among third trimester pregnant mothers regarding MRMBS scheme. Secondary objective was to determine association between above two.Methods: We conducted cross sectional study among third trimester pregnant mothers who sought care at Madurai Medical College Hospital; adopted consecutive sampling; sample size 96. We collected data with semi structured questionnaire; calculated proportions with confidence intervals, median, interquartile range and performed bivariate analysis; observed privacy and confidentiality; obtained informed written consent from participants.Results: Enrollment percentage was 97% (91 to 99%). Proportion of mothers who received any benefit, any installment and any nutrition kit were 82% (72 to 89%), 39% (29 to 49%) and 76% (66 to 85%) respectively. Proportion who received appropriate benefit, appropriate instalment(s) and two nutrition kits were 3% (0.7 to 9%), 22% (14 to 31%) and 3% (0.7 to 9%) respectively. Regarding awareness score, lowest, highest, median and interquartile range were 5, 23, 14 and 11 to 17 respectively. Odds ratio for awareness score above median (exposure) and any benefit received status (outcome) was 4.2 (1.2to19.2).Conclusions: Enrollment was satisfactory. Overall any benefit received status had been achieved by at least one nutrition kit supply. Second instalment and kit issue needed improvement. Huge scope existed for improvement of awareness among beneficiaries.

The cost and affordability of growing and feeding a baby in Nova Scotia.

This paper examines the affordability of a basic nutritious diet for low-income families in Nova Scotia over three developmental periods (pregnancy, perinatal, early infancy) using economic simulations that include food costing and secondary data. The cost of a nutritious food basket was determined from a random sample of grocery stores in Nova Scotia (n= 21), along with the cost of infant formula (n= 29) and prenatal vitamins and vitamin D drops (n= 15), from randomly selected pharmacies. The monthly funds remaining to purchase a basic nutritious diet were calculated for several household scenarios, after deducting essential living expenses from net incomes. Each scenario included either a pregnant woman or a breastfed or formula-fed infant at 3months, and either Income Assistance, Federal Maternity Benefits based on minimum wage employment, or a $15/h wage. Income Assistance and Federal Maternity Benefits, based on minimum wage, were inadequate to purchase a basic nutritious diet during pregnancy or in early infancy whether breastfeeding or formula feeding. All household scenarios faced significant potential monthly deficits if they were to purchase a basic nutritious diet. Minimum wage and income security programs are inadequate for the purchase of a basic nutritious diet throughout the prenatal, perinatal, and early infancy periods in Nova Scotia, emphasizing risk of food insecurity as a critical issue for young families facing income constraints. Adequate maternity protection is required to support access to food and nutrition essential for maternal and infant health.

Konanie vo veciach sociálneho poistenia – diskriminácia otcov pri posudzovaní o nároku na dávku materské?

Gender equality is one of the fundamental values of democratic countries and is considered a prerequisite for a socially just, democratic and inclusive society. The level of gender mainstreaming is currently insufficient and different approaches to men and women can be seen in different situations. The aim of the paper is to point out the possible discriminatory approach of the Social Insurance Company when deciding on the entitlement of fathers to maternity benefit. The contribution deals with the legal regulation of proceedings in social insurance matters focusing on decisions on entitlement to maternity benefit for fathers. The topic for discussion is whether it is abuse of the social system if the father claims maternity benefits while working. Methods of comparison and content analysis of selected documents were used for the paper.

World war and welfare legislation in western countries

This article examines the impact of the two world wars on welfare legislation in 16 western countries. We use Poisson regressions to test our hypothesis that war was a catalyst of welfare legislation, especially in countries that were heavily exposed to the dreadful effects of war. By welfare legislation, we mean the inaugural adoption and major reforms across four programmes (old age and disability benefits, sickness and maternity benefits, unemployment compensation and family allowances). Our findings suggest that both world wars are key factors for explaining the timing of comprehensive welfare reforms and outweigh the significance of other factors such as regime type or level of economic development.

The role of women self-help groups in reproductive health: an operational research

Background: In India, women in the reproductive age group (15-44 years) comprise 53% of women population (according to 2011 census). In spite of continuous evolution to improve reproductive health services in India, there is insufficient progress in decline of maternal mortality rate at 2 percent per annuum. One of the innovative strategies identified in reproductive and child health (RCH) II program and UN millennium declaration was establishment of women self-help groups (SHG’s) particularly in rural regions with high levels of poverty. So this study is aimed to assess the current role of women SHG’s in, maternal health, Family welfare and associated maternity benefit schemes. And also, to find out the constraints in involvement of women SHG’s and to assess the feasibility of enhancing their role in reproductive health services.Methods: It is a population based cross sectional study carried out at Nemam sub centre area of Nemam primary health care centre under Thiruvallur housing and urban development. Women who have been a SHG member for more than 6 months were assessed quantitatively and qualitatively after obtaining informed consent which was approved by institutional ethics committee. Data was compiled and analyzed using SPSS 15.0. Qualitative data was analyzed using coding techniques.Results: A total of 56 self-help groups from 10 villages resulted in a total study population of 392 individuals. Before identifying their role, their awareness was also evaluated. Ninety percent of the SHG women were aware of most of the components of maternal health services. But the role was good among 58% of the SHG women. This study brings forth the gap in knowledge and their role which is because they were not confident of their knowledge.Conclusions: In a developing country like India, involving the well organized and available grass root volunteers like women SHG’s in reproductive health services will have a great bearing on the maternal health and consequently on health of children and community at large.

Birth Pangs: Universal Maternity Entitlements in India

In June 2018, we conducted a small survey of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) in two blocks of Jharkhand: Manika in Latehar District and Khunti in Khunti District. Along with examining the status of PMMVY, we studied the problems faced by women at the time of pregnancy and delivery, such as health expenditure, inadequate nutrition, and loss of income. Many women encounter serious financial problems at that time. For one thing, they face large out-of-pocket expenditures on medicines, tests, hospital stay and transport. For another, their wages and incomes often decline due to reduced ability to work during pregnancy. Dalit and Adivasi women are particularly vulnerable, as they are more likely to be working for wages to begin with. So far, the PMMVY has done little to address these problems, due to restricted coverage, low benefits, and cumbersome procedures. This calls not only for better implementation of the scheme, but also for compliance with the National Food Security Act: maternity benefits should be raised to Rs. 6,000 per child at least, for all pregnancies and not just the first living child.

An Analysis of the fastest growing Indian economy facing the situation of unemployment-A Dichotomy

Classical economist believed that full employment was a normal situation in the economy- in other words all those persons, who are qualified to work, willing to work and able to work at the current wage rate, get the job without any considerable delay. Supply could create its own demand, hence there was no need for any kind of Govt. Intervention in the economic affairs of any economy (Production Arises Due to Joint Actions of all the factors of Production but labour is the most important) If disequilibrium exists between the forces of demand and supply conditions of labour, commodity and savings, it could be automatically adjusted with the flexibility of wage rate, price and interest rate. The real wage rate is determined at a point where the demand of labour is equal to supply of labour. According to Pigou, decline in Money wages increases the volume of employment through reduction in cost and prices of Goods, (Since prices do not respond in the same proportion, therefore real wage also declines with the fall in nominal wage rate) During the great depression of thirties, workers were willing to accept a nominal wage cut but volume of employment was constantly declining Keynes came on this juncture and gave his macro-economic analysis wages are not only a part of the cost of production but also the income of the workers. This reduces the level of aggregate demand and hence volume of employment. Psychologically nobody wants money wage to be cut (neither it is theoretically sound, nor practically possible). In almost all countries laws have been formulated for minimum wages, unemployment insurance, sickness, maternity benefits and a number of other social security measures (Transfer payments). UN report (2010 to 2019) shows that working population (population between the age 15-64) is 67% percent and on the other side, India has become a fastest growing economy in the world, but jobs are not increasing Fundamentally when an economy grows it means output and employment both the variables respond in the positive direction An attempt has been made to examine this mismatch /dichotomy in this research paper.

Exploring the spatial patterns of cesarean section delivery in India: Evidence from National Family Health Survey-4

IntroductionAlmost every day, 800 women die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications around the world. The risks and costs associated with C-section deliveries are significant, mainly where there was no medical indication. Past research has shown a positive and significant association with C-section and maternal death. ObjectiveThe paper attempts to throw light on the pattern of C-section delivery in India at district levels as the increasing use of medical technologies during childbirth is a matter of concern. MethodsBivariate, logistic regression and spatial analyses techniques have been used for analysis purpose, using the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) data conducted in 2015–16. ResultsC-section have shown variability across all the states, and shifting from public to private is associated with an increase in the number of deliveries. Variables like the educational status of women, wealth, ANC, and OOPE were significantly associated with C-section. ConclusionsThere should be the provision of maternity benefits given to women who belong to below poverty line (BPL). Routine monitoring and evaluation of emergency obstetric services should be carried out. Further research to improve the quality of care in public health institutions should be made.

Provisions of Labour Law to Safeguard the Interest of Female Workers to Ensure Equality in India

The jurisprudence of economic development has demonstrated the vigorous role of industrial laws as an instrument of societal and economic justice. Social justice means the attainment of socio-economic objectives laid down by the legislature. Financial soundness is the base of principle of equality of female workers. For a long time, female workers were discriminated in matters of employment and it was felt that gender equality did not find its fulfilment even at the hands of judges. If, we really want to upgrade the status of female workers we have to apportion major significant roles to them. Female are biologically different from males so here equality denotes the equal role considering this condition but difference in term of wages is discrimination. The problem was taken care of by enacting numerous pro female worker provisions like the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 with the Amendment Act of 2017 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 etc. The Constitution of India also directed the State to make special provisions in favour of them. The Supreme Court by interpreting of articles fourteen, fifteen sixteen and twenty-one of the Indian Constitution has intended significantly to ensure gender justice and no discrimination policy in employment matters. With the above introduction the researcher in this research paper wants to highlight the provisions of Labour Laws related to female workers and how it is ensuring and sustaining the socio- economic justice and equality to maintain the dignity and raise the standard in our society. To justify its observation; the researcher has gone through the various statutory enactments, reviews, the report of various social welfare agencies and the interpretation done by judiciary in number of cases.

Fathers, Paternity Benefits and Gender Norms

With the advent of the 21st century, work-family conflict is a battle that many parents in India, fathers and mothers alike, fight on a daily basis. It has become equally important for fathers as it is for mothers to participate in the upbringing and welcoming of a newborn child in the family. Hence, to accommodate these changes and make way for gender equality, non-conforming gender roles, and the wholesome upbringing of the child, some changes in workplaces are required, including access to gender neutral flexible working and parental leave for new parents. While the country widely recognizes and agrees on the benefits of Maternity Leaves, it is different in the case of fathers trying to avail Paternity Leave benefits. In March 2017, a big step was taken when the Maternity Bill was passed in the Parliament, which extended the time period of maternity leave for women from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. The decision made an old question rear its head again, of whether paternity leave should also be recognized by the Indian government. Lately, various private companies have introduced the concept of paternity leave for their employees. Drawing on to the existing rationale behind the maternity benefits bill recently passed, this paper analyzes the potential impacts of inserting a provision for paternity leave in India on firms and society.

Jurisprudence of Law, Poverty and Development

Poverty is the dearth of economic assets, which incapacitates to fulfill their basic needs. It is ultimately the shortage of the rights received from the law of nature along with the birth of human being. Global poverty is determined based on absolute income threshold equal to one or two dollar a day for World Bank Group. Although the measurement of poverty is difficult task, Kuznet Ratio, Lorenz Curve, Gini Coefficient, Coefficient of Variation, Theil index, Functional Distribution, Head Count Index, Poverty Gap Index, Foster-Greer-Thorbecke Measures, Human Poverty Index, Multidimensional Poverty Index, and Unemployment Rate are used for poverty measurement across the globe. State has to raise much toil to alleviate poverty. So, education, employment, income redistribution, entrepreneurship development, gender equality, development aid, debt relief, increase wage, natural resource mobilization, economic growth and increase government expenditures are used as the method of poverty alleviation. Social security like medical care; sickness benefit; unemployment benefit; old-age benefit; employment injury benefit; family benefit; maternity benefit; invalidity benefit; and survivors' benefit are used to protect minimum human dignity and existence of life. Nepal has Labour Act, 2074 BS (2017 AD), Labour Rules, 2075 BS (2018 AD), Contribution Based Social Security Act, 2074 BS (2017 AD), Contribution Based Social Security Rules, 2075 BS (2018 AD) as legislation applicable for social security purpose. However, these legislations are not applicable for government employee. Currently, government employee have separate standard for social security under Civil Service Act in the context of Nepal. Additionally, various approaches of development are coined to alleviate poverty across the globe. Moreover, peace is the benchmark of development, which gradually reduces poverty in society. As peace and development are interrelated; ultimate purpose of jurisprudence is to establish peace, justice, equality and rule of law in society. Finally, UN has coined Sustainable Development Goals to eradicate all form of poverty across the globe by 2030 AD. So, sustainable development is also the agenda of Nepal as it is the member of many international instruments of environment law. Country of the world cannot ignore environmental justice because it creates global problem as it is transnational in nature.

Suicidal Ideation in Pregnant and Postpartum Women Veterans: An Initial Clinical Needs Assessment.

Pregnancy and postpartum, or the perinatal period, are times when women are particularly vulnerable to mental health concerns, including suicidal ideation. Risk factors for suicidal ideation during this period of a woman's life are depression and exposure to trauma, the latter of which may occur during military operations. The number of women veterans in the United States continues to rise, as does their use of maternity benefits. In this pilot study, we examined the feasibility of recruiting pregnant veterans for longitudinal research. We hypothesized that hopelessness and depressive symptoms would be related to suicidal ideation during the perinatal period, and we investigated a possible relationship between post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and suicidal ideation. Using the designated Veterans Affairs (VA) maternity care coordinator's census, we contacted pregnant women veterans for assessment during the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and 6 weeks postpartum at the San Diego VA. Between September 2017 and October 2018, 28 women volunteers completed the following measures: the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS); the Beck Hopelessness Scale (BHS); the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); and the PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5). We used correlational analyses and descriptive statistics to determine associations among the measures. As gathered from the C-SSRS, over 30% of the veteran women had past lifetime suicide attempts, and over 10% of the veterans had suicidal ideation in the perinatal period. Both depression and PTSS rates neared 30% during pregnancy and postpartum. Hopelessness and depressive symptoms were positively correlated at both time points. While the intensity of lifetime suicidal ideation was correlated with postpartum depressive symptoms, there was no correlation with current suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms. PTSS correlated with both depressive symptoms and hopelessness, but not suicidal ideation, at both time points. There was no correlation between hopelessness and suicidal ideation during the perinatal period in this cohort. It is important to understand the mental health needs of perinatal veterans given their vulnerability to develop mental health concerns, including suicidal ideation. The unpredicted pattern of correlations determined in this study implies the need for multifaceted measures for safety-related mental health assessment of perinatal veterans, including assessment for PTSS. Strengths of this study include its longitudinal assessment and a sampling from a general population of veterans. Limitations include small sample size, a single gestational time point, and loss of participants who did not return for their postpartum assessment. We demonstrated the feasibility of longitudinal research with pregnant and postpartum veterans, but additional assessment points during the perinatal period could help identify critical times for mental health intervention in this population.

Analysis of the Maternity Benefits Amendment Act, 2017 and its Implications on the Modern Industrial Discourse

Maternity Benefits Act, 2017