Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha has urged the Parliament to make paternity leave a legal right in India. He argued that caregiving after childbirth should not be considered solely a mother's responsibility.
"I demanded in Parliament that PATERNITY LEAVE should be a legal right in India. When a child is born, both parents are congratulated. But caregiving responsibility falls on one.
"The mother. A father should not have to choose between caregiving for his newborn and keeping his job," Chadha said, emphasising the need for fathers to be equally involved in early childcare.
“Right after childbirth, the woman needs her husband's presence the most. The husband's caregiving responsibility towards his wife is equally important. I raised this issue in Parliament because caregiving is a shared responsibility. Our laws must reflect that,” he added.
India does not have a specific law that mandates paternity leave in the private sector. Although maternity leave is mandated by law through the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, private companies generally decide on their own rules for paternity leave.
Without a standard law, paternity leave in the private sector varies widely. Some may get no time off at all, while others are allowed only a few days, depending on their employer.
In contrast, male government staff are entitled to leave under the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972. Male government employees are entitled to 15 days of fully paid leave, which must be availed within six months of the child's birth. This provision applies to up to two surviving children.
But the absence of similar legislation in the private sector has prompted repeated calls from the AAP MP.
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Efforts to legislate paternity leave are not entirely new in India. In 2017, the late Congress MP Rajeev Satav introduced the Paternity Benefit Bill, which proposed a standardised paternity leave framework across sectors.
The bill suggested 15 days of leave, extendable up to three months and included provisions for pre-birth leave. But the bill did not become law.
Chadha has a history of raising citizen-centric issues in Parliament. He has previously challenged the 28-day mobile recharge cycle, demanded daily data carry-forward, proposed a “Right to Recall” for elected representatives and advocated for affordable airport food.
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