The ILO welcomes the government’s progressive move to enhance maternity coverage to working mothers. This is a step in the right direction ensuring that women are encouraged to remain in the labour force and fuel India’s impressive growth narrative.

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016, was passed by the Rajya Sabah in August last year that increases the maternity benefit from 12 weeks to 26 weeks for two surviving children. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, protects the employment of women during the time of her maternity and entitles her full paid absence from work, to take care for her child.
This bill also requires every establishment that has 50 or more women employees to provide for a crèche facility. It also makes it easy for women to work from home in cases where it is feasible thus allowing flexibility. For those women who legally adopt a child below three months –maternity leave for 12 weeks is guaranteed. The employer also has the onus to inform women employees at the time of joining the organization her entitlements with respect to maternity benefits.

This welcoming step taken by the government is in line with the Article 3 and 4 of the international labour standard, ILO’s Maternity Protection Convention C-183 .