Karnataka Govt Announces One Day Paid Menstrual Leave For Working Women

Bengaluru: The Karnataka Government on Thursday announced one day paid menstrual leave every month for all working women of the state.

The move is likely to benefit over 15 lakh working women of the state. The state cabinet which met here approved the menstrual leave policy to ensure the well being of women employees and promote workplace inclusivity. Women can avail this leave during their menstruation cycles.

The policy will apply to women working across sectors both in government and private. With this Karnataka, probably has become the first state to provide such facility to women employees working across sectors. While Kerala already provides two days of menstrual leave for trainees of ITIs, Bihar and Odisha have restricted the facility only for government employees.

The decision follows a recommendation to this effect from a 18-member committee headed by S Sapna, head of the law department of the Christ University. Earlier, the Government was mulling providing six days of menstrual leave in a year but changed its mind after many women organisations said it would not serve the purpose.

In November last year, the Kerala government had announced Saturday as a holiday for ITI trainees and a two-day menstrual leave for female trainees. Education Minister V Sivankutty had said the decision was taken considering the long-term needs of ITI trainees. "In today's era, women are working in all sectors. There are women even in the skill-training trades, which are very demanding," he had said.

Sivankutty said ITI trainees will get every Saturday as an off day, aside from Sunday and shifts will be rescheduled to avoid the loss of training time. The first shift is from 7.30 am to 3 pm while the second shift will be from 10 am to 5.30 pm.

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