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Axis Bank Unveils New Policy For LGBTQIA Comunity, Allows Same-Sex Couple To Have Joint Accounts

India, 7 Sep 2021 12:08 PM GMT

Editor : Madhusree Goswami |

A mountain girl trying to make it big in the city. She loves to travel and explore and hence keen on doing on-ground stories. Giving the crux of the matter through her editing skills is her way to pay back the journalism its due credit.

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Creatives : Neelima Mishra

Guru Govind Singh Indraprashtha University in New Delhi is where Neelima Mishra is doing her master's degree. She graduated from Delhi University with a bachelor's degree in journalism (hons.). She is pursuing a corporate communication specialisation at IP University.

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Among other things, employees will be allowed to list their partners for mediclaim benefits irrespective of their gender, sex or marital status.

Three years after the Supreme Court decriminalised Section 377, Axis Bank on Monday, September 6, announced a charter of policies and practices for its employees and customers from the LGBTQIA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, intersex, asexual, among others) community.

The bank said that the initiative is part of its wider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments.

OPEN - A simple four letter word that can have profound meaning. It can mean different things to different people. And that's the beauty! When we are OPEN to differences, we embrace diversity, with values of equity and inclusion. We are always #DilSeOpen. #ComeAsYouAre. pic.twitter.com/YAcy977sYN
— Axis Bank (@AxisBank) September 6, 2021

The Initiatives

Under the new policies:

Employees can apply for mediclaim benefits on behalf of their partners irrespestive of gender, sexual orientation, or marital status
Employees can dress in accordance with their gender/gender expression
Employees have the option of using the restroom that best suits their gender expression/gender identity
Effective from September 20, the bank's customers can open a joint savings bank account or a term deposit with their same-sex partner at its branches, while they can also make their same-sex partner a nominee for their savings or term deposit account with the bank
Members from the community will be able to list their title as 'Mx' in their savings and term deposit accounts

Among other things, the company said it has initiated all gender restrooms at its large offices. "We recognize that employees could have a gender or gender expression that's different from their sex assigned at birth. They can choose to dress in accordance with their gender/ gender expression," it said. Employees can also redress their grievances.

Also Read: Rise In Farm, Unpaid Woman Labour: Labour Force Survey

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Editor : Madhusree Goswami

Creatives : Neelima Mishra

Axis Bank