While the new amendment to the India’s Maternity Bill seems like a triumph for working women in terms of their needs, yet for us who know how the corporate India works with regard to maternity leave, there is much trepidation and uncertainty. Once on the path to senior leadership, more and more women fall off the ladder once plan a family and have babies, essentially because their maternity leave is not properly managed.
Corporates do have policies, and yet, women struggle after their comeback and are thrown in at the deep end of the pool. Within a year of childbirth, around 90% of women leave because ‘returnship’ programmes and sensitisation are just not mandated. The new Bill states that women employees are entitled to the benefit of a paid leave of 26 weeks only for their first two children, after which the number of paid weeks reduces to 12 weeks. That means, the third child’s growth and development may be affected. However, amusingly, the original Maternity Bill of 1961 stapled a paid maternity leave regardless of the number of children a woman employee had.
According to the National Sample Survey Organization, working women in India are mainly employed in the unorganized sector — a sector which employs 93% of India’s total workforce. We need to have a liberal, inclusive, non-biased gender policy:
Remove gender bias women or female, maternity benefit should be on parenting for better human capital and future generation.
Maternity benefit programme should move towards a self-sustainable program, herein the funds generation for providing social security for a better healthy future generation, it can be a market linked fund issued by an insurance company which any company can avail for their women employees as in the case of medical insurance.
Transparency in work force management should be instilled through this Bill, other than the gender diversity. There should not be any discrimination between women or men workforce in terms of their wages and salaries.
Data privacy laws should be incorporated in the Act to prevent private questions like are you married, how long have you been married etc.
The law should be liberal and should not impose them on entrepreneurs. The industry should be given an option, with the Government incentivising those who facilitate it.
In a nutshell, we as a society need to develop a tolerance for our fellow colleague and respect for all members living in it for just and fair. laws, which ratify gender equality are great in philosophy but they should be integral to the enterprise and not be thrust upon as an obligation. It is the responsibility of the Government to push the industry in recognising such benefits voluntarily. However, in a country, like India which is vast and diverse only governance could work, provided the lawmakers implement on the ground.
The writer is Radhika Kalia, Head,Corporate Affairs & CSR