Maternity leave hike proposed by Maneka Gandhi set for PM's nod

Maternity leave is very crucial for a pregnant career-oriented woman. Taking forward the workplace along with personal life is a difficult task and needs to be done carefully. Moreover for a woman it is even more necessary because, with the work responsibilities in hand, she is also largely responsible for the well-being of her family and herself. So to tackle such big, Maneka Gandhi, who is in-charge of the ministry of Women and Child Development, has appealed for longer maternity leave.

Till now, the maternity leave in both the organised and unorganised sector has been 3 months according to the law. However, Maneka appeals to increase it to 8 months.

“We have mooted a proposal of extending the maternity leave for working women from present three months to eight months to the Cabinet Secretariat for a discussion in the Committee of Secretaries. This matter was taken up by our minister with the Prime Minister and he is also very interested, so we are sending a copy to him,” said WCD additional secretary, Nutan Guha Biswas, in a report by TOI.

Maneka met the Prime Minister last week to discuss the proposal and the PM has given an “in-principal nod” to it.

“Officials said Maneka believes that all working women - in both organised and unorganised sectors - should be given extended leave to ensure better care of their babies, especially as most families now are nuclear families,” in a report by The Telegraph.

The leave will be broken up in two parts- one month leave before the delivery and seven months maternity leave after the delivery. This leave benefit will also be extended to those women who think of adoption as a measure.

It is an applaud-worthy initiative by Maneka Gandhi who is working with dedication towards the betterment of women and children in the country. This move will definitely help millions of women across the country, who want to keep both their careers and the personal life moving forward. It will definitely garner a lot of respect and accolades for the work of Maneka Gandhi.

Picture Credit- iDiva