Maternity benefit act "Right to payment" - not able to understand calculation part

Hi everyon e,I am not able to understand the calculation part of the following section of Maternity benefit act 1961.
can anyone please guide me in this with an example.
"5. Right to payment of maternity benefit. -- (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, every woman shall be entitled to, and her employer shall be liable for, the payment of maternity benefit at the rate of the average daily wage for the period of her actual absence immediately preceding and including the day of her delivery and for the six weeks immediately following that day"

There are two aspects covered in this section.

1. The payment of maternity benefit is to be at the rate of the average daily wage and

2. The payment of maternity benefit has to be made for the period of her actual absence before the delivery, the day of actual delivery and for six weeks after the delivery.

The interpretation of the said clauses are as follows:

The explanation to Section 5 (1) clarifies what is average daily wage, it is the average of the wages earned in the past three months for the days the pregnant woman has worked.

The next part makes it mandatory that at least for 6 weeks post delivery the woman employee is entitled to paid leave. The provision was made as the exact date of delivery remained unpredictable and that the mother and child gets sufficient time to take care of their health.

But with the 2017 amendment to the MB Act the provision is revised and now it is as follows:

The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act has increased the duration of paid maternity leave available for women employees from the existing 12 weeks to 26 weeks. Under the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, this benefit could be availed by women for a period extending up to a maximum of 8 weeks before the expected delivery date and the remaining time can be availed after childbirth. For women who are having 2 or more surviving children, the duration of paid maternity leave shall be 12 weeks (i.e. 6 weeks before and 6 weeks after expected date of delivery).

Hope the above clarifies

Ok sir,
but which 3 months period should i consider.
may i calculate this 3 months period before her actual absence ?
i.e she submitted maternity leave letter to us on 01-05-2020.
now, may i consider feb,mar,april average salary for wage ?

Yes, minus the legalese, it can be safely said the maternity benefit has to be the full salary which she has been getting for the past three months.

Dear ANNONYMOUS Friend,
In addition to what is said by KK!HR, the women employee is also entitled for medical bonus of Rs. 3500/-.
Regards.
Akhil Bhartiya

Dear
Bhartiya Akhil, Thank you for the info that you gave,may i know in how many day should we disburse the bonus amount and the actual maternity benefit amount.?

Dear Satishchandra123,
Please refer Section 6 (5) of the MB Act.
According to this Section, the payment of maternity benefit is to be made in two instalments. First instalment i.e. for the period preceding to the expected delivery is to be paid when the woman produces the proof of her pregnancy. The second instalment is payable within 48 hours of production of proof of delivery.
The medical bonus shall be paid along with the second instalment of the maternity benefit.

Dear Bhartiya Akhil,
Thank you for the explanation . Now i got the point.

The salary will be the same which was paid earlier? Basic+ HRA+ Other Allowances? or the Maternity Benefit calculation is done on Basic+ HRA and other aloowances not included?

The Maternity Benefit Act 1961 states that the average wages for the last three months are to be paid. The term wages is defined in the Act as all remuneration inclusive of DA, HRA, incentive bonus and the cash value of concessional supply of foodgrains and other articles. It specifically excludes only bonus (other than incentive bonus), OT wages, pension fund, PF and gratuity. So practically all allowances are included.
The test for inclusion in such cases is to include all allowances which is paid irrespective of the employee working or not and exclude those which are directly correlated with the employee's attendance.