Paid Paternity Leave

The responsibility of child care should fall equally on the shoulders of both mother and father. Adoptive or commissioning mother not being a biological mother and hence, not undergoing any physical change, is still provided with the maternity benefits. The rationale behind this being, newborns need special care in the initial phase and time is required to build an emotional bond and develop attachment with the child. This same rationale should be extended to the fathers. There are various provisions for the adoptive and commissioning mother but the Act does not provide mandatory provision for paternity leave. Research provides that the fathers who take paternity leave are more likely to demonstrate an active role in child care responsibilities.

Although, the paid maternity leave provides the adequate time period for the woman’s physical recovery along with providing for financial aid, but the benefits of paid paternity leave go even further. This results in new gender dynamics in the family and ensures that mother remains attached to the workforce.

Current policies primarily tend to make women responsible for children’s care. The recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission (2008), which revised pay scales for government employees, recommended increasing the period of maternity leave provided to women to two years; however, this retains the framework of women serving as primary child care providers. If child care responsibility is left exclusively with the mother it would greatly affect her wages and repel employers from hiring them. Absence of paternity leave, acts as a threat to employment parity among the

whether the said amendment takes into consideration various facets of motherhood and addresses impediments faced by working mothers, it is important here to note that The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017 has brought legislative changes by incorporating, for the first time, maternal leave to adoptive and commissioning mother. By this amendment maternal leave for a biological mother increased more than two fold. Undeniably, the amended Act is a commendable push ahead, but, it has certain loopholes, and does not, as one would like to think, keep the interest of working mothers at the forefront, as it asserts to do. The Act is exclusionary to women in the unorganised sector, who form 95 per cent of the workforce, thus, the advantages don 't have any significant bearing on major chunk of women. The remaining few who can avail the benefits, are provided reduced maternity benefits in case of two surviving children. Also, the distinction between private and public sector is not totally removed. While the surrogate mothers working for the Central Government are entitled to maternal leave, same is not extended to private sector. Judicial pronouncements, in this respect, have not been incorporated in the recent