To resolve the matter it is now being placed being placed the committee of secretaries to find an acceptable “duration” for this leave.
The two Ministries have locked horns over the period, with WCD ministry stressing on the need for eight- month maternity leave. While the Labour Ministry has said the period should be six and a half months. A highly placed source in the government told Millennium Post: “The WCD has asked for eight months but the Labour Ministry has recommended only six and a half months after that. Now the issue will be taken up and resolved, in the Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary. Let us see what best can be done to find an ‘ideal’ duration for maternity leave in this situation.”
An official from the WCD ministry said, “Since we proposed for a longer duration (eight months), we forwarded the matter to Committee of Secretaries, so that the matter can be deliberated. Once it gets clearance from there, it will then go the Cabinet. The Labour Department has already approved (extension) for six and a half months from the existing three months. Let the issue be taken to a higher level and be resolved.”
Union WCD Minister Maneka Sanjay Gandhi has emphasized on the need to extend maternity leave from existing three months to eight months. The Cabinet Secretariat had asked the WCD Ministry to take comments of various concerned ministries and after doing so the matter will now come up for deliberation in the committee of secretaries. “We had also sent the proposal to different ministries and most of them have supported it, including Defense, Home and Finance,” said an official from the WCD Ministry. Explaining the eight-month proposal for maternity leave, Gandhi had told Millennium Post that one month leave is mandatory before delivery and seven months post delivery - the time to breastfeed the child. She said: “Eight months of maternity is a necessity because one month for the woman goes into the stage where the woman has to prepare for the baby’s needs which include : taking care of his or her clothes, food and other essentials. Also the ideal time of breastfeeding for a baby is seven months. All the best doctors and gynecologists have suggested that seven months is required for breast feeding a child. It is only after this period of seven months, can one go ahead and give the child home cooked food. That sums up the significance of the eight months timeline.” Gandhi also had also described the Labour Ministry move to extend maternity leave from three to six months (an earlier recommendation by Labour Ministry) to be “meaningless” and stressed on a 8 month leave.