National Commission for Women suggests extension of paternity leaves

The Commission invited legal experts, advocates, academicians and legal experts from different fields to deliberate upon the real challenges and technical issues faced by women. Some of the important suggestions made by the panelists were to extend the paternity leaves so that the burden of raising the child is shared equally between both the parents, incentivizing employers and sensitization of the corporate sector to employ more women workers.

New Delhi: The National Commission for Women organised the final Law Review Consultation on the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and the 2017 Amendment to review and analyse the legislation affecting women and recommend amendments to meet any lacunae, inadequacies and shortcomings. NSW spokesperson said that in pursuance of the Commission's mandate to review legal and constitutional safeguards about women, the Commission has conducted one preliminary consultation and five regional level consultations to relook the Act to formulate specific recommendations for amendments and enhance the outreach of the legislation.

Through this Consultation, the Commission endeavoured to seek views, suggestions and opinions of experts and stakeholders from all over India. Meeta Rajeevlochan, Member Secretary, NCW and Asholi Chalai, Joint Secretary, NCW, presided over the deliberation. The consultation was moderated by Mayank Arora, advocate, Supreme Court.

The Commission invited legal experts, advocates, academicians and legal experts from different fields to deliberate upon the real challenges and technical issues faced by women. Some of the important suggestions made by the panelists were to extend the paternity leaves so that the burden of raising the child is shared equally between both the parents, incentivizing employers and sensitization of the corporate sector to employ more women workers. The experts also discussed the issue of women working in the unorganised sector and the provision of creche facilities.