Parliament on Thursday passed the amendment Bill which ensures mandatory paid 26 weeks maternity leave for women working in organised sector. The new Bill will apply to all establishments employing 10 or more people and the entitlement will be for only up to first two children. For third child, the entitlement will be for only 12 weeks.
The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016 was passed by the lok Sabha on Thursday, months after the Rajya Sabha approved the measure that takes India to the third position in terms of the number of weeks for maternity leave after Canada and Norway where it is 50 weeks and 44 weeks, respectively.
Piloting amendments to the old law, labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said while framing the rules, he would try to ensure that maximum benefits reach the pregnent women.
“This is my humble gift to women, a day after the world celebrated the International Women’s Day,” he said after about 4-hour debate during which some members demanded paternity benefits too, arguing that these days most of the children are born in nuclear families where both the father and the mother have to take care of the child.
Bill covers only a few, claims Cong
Congress said the Maternity amendment Bill will benefit only a minuscule percentage of women employed in the organised sector while ignoring a large demographic toiling in the country's unorganised sector such as contractual workers, farmers, casual workers, self-employed women and housewives.
Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev said the Centre has wasted an opportunity to bring gender parity at the workplace by recognising that child care is the responsibility of both parents and not just the mother.