ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD
Members Only
lock close icon

Indian, Preggers & Working? Your Maternity Leave To Double in 2016

Early New Year gift by the government - the archaic Maternity Benefits Act of 1961 will soon be revamped

Updated
Women
4 min read
story-hero-img
i
Aa
Aa
Small
Aa
Medium
Aa
Large
Hindi Female

One moment you’re waking up to the sunlight-like-smiles of your beautiful baby, playing peek-a-boo, the next you realise that three months of maternity leaves have rushed past and it’s time to get back to work.

The archaic Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 gives only 12 weeks of paid maternity leave to a working mother in India, that’s just three months. The Union government is now mulling to increase this to 26 weeks in the private sector. No one said multi-tasking is going to be easy, but if this proposal comes through, things might start looking up for the working mother.

ADVERTISEMENTREMOVE AD

Six Months Maternity Leave is Not a Luxury, It’s a Necessity

Early New Year gift by the government - the archaic Maternity Benefits Act of 1961 will soon be revamped
Me with my 10-month-old baby (Photo courtesy: Nikita)

Leaving a three-month-old baby and going back to work is a wrench! Add inhuman and cruel to that.

The benefits of a long maternity and paternity leave are undeniable, real and tangible. Longer maternity leave reduces infant death, makes for emotionally and physically healthier infants and helps women stay in the workforce.

The ultimate dilemma for a working mum is that the World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding the infant for at least six months, even more. The longer the babies are nursed, the healthier they become in life. With no pumping rooms in Indian offices, it’s a battle against biology; a mother’s milk supply dwindles when away from the baby. Obviously none of this is possible in the micro-maternity leave of 12 weeks.

Early New Year gift by the government - the archaic Maternity Benefits Act of 1961 will soon be revamped
Frankly, a mum should never have no choice but to leave her wailing baby with a stranger at 3 months. Reminder: at that age, the child’s neck is also not strong enough to hold himself up (Photo courtesy: Nikita)

As a mother, I would have never been able to join back work with a 6-month leave also! To put a nursing child in a daycare, knowing he can barely sit, or crawl and is at the mercy of nannies who don’t know him, would rip me apart.

But I contemplated it, even though mine is not the job that pays the bills. I tried to justify in a million ways how it would all work out - a daycare close to office, hop in during lunch, sneak out for a feed or two - I tried to justify as one does it when they run out of alternatives.

It didn’t feel right. I realized it would’ve tortured me, him, emotionally as well as physically. I would never have been able to give 100% to my job, the stress would make me a wreck. And none of that maketh for a happy mum or an efficient employee.

Luckily for me, understanding employers and a great boss translated into an extended eight months maternity leave. Without that kind of support, I would have become a part of the 60% working women in India who have to drop out of work because childcare comes in the way. (Source: ASSOCHAM)

Early New Year gift by the government - the archaic Maternity Benefits Act of 1961 will soon be revamped
By the end of my 8-month maternity leave, I was craving to get back to work, to have a normal adult conversation. My son was ready for the structure of a daycare and me for my routine (Photo courtesy: Nikita)

The big question here is, should parents have to play this roulette with their little babies, running around daycares, relying on ill-trained nannies to ensure the safety and well-being of their child?

0

America Has the Worst Maternity Policy & India Has the Lowest Working Women Rates

In the United States, 88% of women are paid zero maternity leaves. It’s a global shame, lesser than 10 countries in the world offer no paid maternity leave - the US is the only developed nation in the category.

The 12 weeks maternity law in India, like many other ancient laws needs to be scrapped. It was made in 1961 when less than 9% of women were literate, jobs were relaxed and cushy, maternity leave benefits were rarely availed. Cut to 2015, most women fight the hormonal haze of motherhood to return to work, but 12 weeks is too little, too soon.

According to a 2013 World Bank study, only 27% of the female population in India is working. A third of these dropout post motherhood. This is the lowest rate of women’s participation in any workforce among the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries, with the highest in China at 64%.

The bottom line is, being able to take care of one’s newborn without the risk of losing one’s job or going broke is a basic human right that no one should be denied.

Critics would say reviewing the maternity benefits is an unnecessary government intervention. I imagine they would feel differently stepping on an elevator that hasn’t been inspected in 54 years.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

Read Latest News and Breaking News at The Quint, browse for more from gender and women

Published: 
Speaking truth to power requires allies like you.
Become a Member
3 months
12 months
12 months
Check Member Benefits
Read More
×
×