An Open Letter to Dear Minister

Posted on by Parul Thakur
A 7 month old at a Day Care, waiting for Mum to take her home..

Dear Minister,

Congratulations on completing one year at this Ministry! You have a tough and important task at hand. You look after various labor laws and among many other things, you ensure that fair wages are paid to those who are employed by public or private companies. Be it provident fund, gratuity or prosecuting people who go non-compliant, you have a lot of laws and standing orders under your golden wings. In my mind, there is a lot more to do and revise and that’s why I am writing to you. Some laws were drafted in 1924 and the one on my mind today is 1961’s. After over 50 years, don’t you think there is a probable scope to revamp Maternity Benefits for Indian women?

Why I say so? From 1961 to 2015, the Indian household has gone under a drastic change. More women are in the workforce than ever and they look at their career with the same importance as their husbands do. They want to return to work after the baby is born and a support system is not always a possibility. Day cares, nannies and other alternative options have to be thought of by the couple at least till the time the baby can show that the crying is for food or pain.

The support that you provide: You are kind to provide a paid twelve weeks of maternity leave, insurance benefits and you focus so much on the E,B,D Forms to be filled. Yes, I know that under complications, four additional weeks of leave is possible but knowing that the new mother would want to spend the maximum time with her new-born, she tries to push herself hardest to take the twelve weeks of leave after the baby is born. She ignores to relax and take care of her own self and starts putting herself behind much before the baby the born. I feel, a little more empathy should be in scope and you can certainly take care of that.

The Real Situation: When I was born, my mother wasn’t working. She joined the workforce when I was four so my example is the wrong one to quote. I am kind of guessing that your case must have been similar.

I am also not a mother or expecting a child, so I am not talking about myself as well. I am talking about a mother of twins who quit her job cos with two little babies at home and no support in the city she lived, 16 weeks was too short to be ready to join back work. I am talking on behalf of a mother who recently had a baby and while she is seeing her grow every single day, this baby goes feverish cos at 6 months she is too young to tolerate the air conditioner at day care. While this new mother wants to return to work, the fact that her half-year old is undergoing “separation anxiety” leaves her thinking if it is the right time to go back to her work. Even doctors advise that a baby needs to be breast-fed for first six months of their lives. Mothers undergo guilt of leaving the baby behind in day cares and then at work they wonder whether their little one ate something or not. Is somebody playing with her and engaging her? Will she be able to fully contribute at work knowing that her child is probably crying cos (s)he can’t see the mother around?

What’s my point? The point I’m trying to raise is whether 12-16 weeks of maternity leave is good enough? Is it enough for a new mother recovering from a C-section or the heavy bleeding with a belt tied to the tummy to support the uterus to get back to work with full enthusiasm and energy? Is that leave good enough for the baby to smile and wave while (s)he sees mother leaving for work? I agree that the maternity leave in India is a paid one and it is certainly helpful for that financial support but is the duration enough?

Should the duration be looked upon once again? 50 years on and we haven’t even come at par with other nations in the world. What about flexibility at work? What about nursing breaks that consider the fact that the child may not always be in a day care that’s at a distance of 100 metres? When companies want to show that they encourage women to join after delivering a baby, do they also give enough support to the new mom? An acquaintance in Canada is going back to work after her daughter’s first birthday. She is mentally and physically ready to get back to being a physiotherapist and so is her baby who can now walk and indicate things. The first year is crucial for both the new Mum and the baby. As a responsible Minister, it’s time to look into it. Don’t you think many other women in India would be willing to continue working after becoming mothers if they know that the law allows them a year-long leave? As a nation when we are doing so many positive things to show our worth to the world, this is certainly important. Isn’t it?

I want you to think Minister and do something about this. After all, you just completed a year and it’s now your turn to bring some positive changes and rise and shine in your role.

Sincerely,

A concerned Indian citizen

I’m aware that recently Accenture, India increased the mandatory maternity leave duration from 12 weeks to 22 weeks. That’s a first great move towards working mothers. Will other companies follow suit? Will GoI notice this? 

I’m also well aware of women who take advantage to maternity leaves and then quit work but that issue is not in scope. Here I’m only focusing on the inadequate duration on Maternity Leaves. Leave your thoughts and comments! Would love to know you what you think!

Picked as a "Tangy Tuesday" read on May 19, 2015
Picked as a “Tangy Tuesday” read on May 19, 2015

27 thoughts on “An Open Letter to Dear Minister”

  1. Sine our PM is so into all the technology driven stuff, I’d suggest giving a maternity leave of one year with the facility to resume “work from home” after 16 weeks. It could be part-time or full-time, as convenient to the new mother, but with flexi timings. It should be made mandatory eventually for all companies to provide this work-from-home option to women on maternity leave.

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  2. I was a working lady and quit after my child was born. This is a very serious issue and hop all companies raise the maternity leave to 22 weeks.

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  3. You raise a very valid point.
    Every child must be exclusively breast fed* till he/she is 6 months and breastfeeding must continue for a year and beyond with solids. The immunity the mom passes the baby is immense.

    While I agree a mom quits the job first, its because of the patriarchal society we live in. Where I live, we get 52 weeks of maternity, of which 17 weeks are for the birth mom. The remaining 35 can be shared by the mom or dad (the dad has an equal responsibility for the baby). We do get financial assistance as part of our employment insurance (about 900$ max) which is not a big amount, but enough to live by.

    The govt could introduce the following
    1)Allow mothers or fathers to work from home ‘n’ number of days in a week.
    2)Increase mat leave to 17 weeks and allow either parent to take the 35 weeks. This way, a woman is not “punished” for giving birth career wise. The fact is that with each child born more and more women give up on careers and salary for the sake of the family. That in itself is wrong, because the dad should also be an equal family partner and not just the “bread winner”.
    3)All organizations should have daycares they refer/sponsor their employees children to. It could be a labour law, and the minute you can bring your child to a daycare close to you, women chose to return to work too.
    4)Allow a woman ‘n’ of hours in a day to pump milk, this should be in addition to her lunch break.It would take an hour in total to pump milk for the baby , but the benefit the baby gets is immense.

    Having said all this, I think India is far better than United States. The States offers 6 weeks of mat. leave and 8 weeks for a c-section delivery. Also the employer is under no obligation to pay the employee mat leave benefits.

    *I am no advocate of breast feeding. Some mothers are simply unable to provide breast milk to their child for whatever reasons and as long as the baby is healthy and well fed, that is all that should matter! Not the source of nutrition.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and you have suggested some great options. I am aware that in US it is harder for new mothers. Where you stay, I must say that benefit is good and supportive.

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    1. That’s even sadder Bikram. Nothing to the father.. it is assumed that he will continue to work even when his wife is in hospital and about to deliver. Companies give Paternity leaves but that depends on the organization and it’s not more than 5 working days. Does that suffice? Not at all!

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  5. Very valid, Parul. It is a struggle for the working woman to continue working with a baby. Most couples depend on their parents to take carevof the baby, which in my opinion is wrong because don’t our parents require rest and relaxation in their old age? 3 months, 6 months, 1 year – it doesn’t matter, babies need attention and care a lot. Since I wasn’t working I didn’t face this problem when I had my baby. But for many out there this is a very real problem. Kudos to you for writing about it!

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  7. Its a burning issue. I left my first born at 3 months to get back to work. I still feel guilty. My second one, I could afford to take 5 months to just nurture him. But, I am so proud to say I work for Accenture today. They also have lot of flexible options too for both men and women.

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  8. I agree Parul. 3 months is just not sufficient. I had a C-section when my daughter was born. I got leave for 3 months and extended it to another 3 months of unpaid leave. But joining back even after 6 months was extremely difficult , so I guess it is next to impossible if a woman has to join back just afer 3 months, particularly if the baby is dependent on mother’s feed.

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  10. Wow! So interesting to read Parul!you write about it so well:-) In Norway we Get 52 weeks with full salary paid. The state pays for all. the dad has to take some weeks paternity leave too, and then the couple can choose for 1/3 if it should be for the mum or dad. It seems it has Worked as an important tool to let women keep their independence and work.and a lovely way to connect with the new member of the family:-)

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  11. That’s a very valid issue Parul. I personally think a work from home concept (for a certain period after delivery) which is generally not the case everywhere could also help solve this issue a great deal. Moreover, paternity leaves is highly uncommon in the most parts of the world. And it’s generally even looked down upon quite sadly. With the changing times, taking care of a child is not only a mother’s job but a father has equal responsibility too.

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      1. Hopefully the way Accenture has changed things, others will follow suit as more and more people voice their opinion for it.

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  12. hello Parul,
    I am very happy that you wrote on this subject.
    I have also eventually worked on this subject. Fyi: Dhanlaxmi bank is a private bank and offers 6 months paid maternity leaves for the last 20 years.
    I addressed the concern in HR of my company and got amendments for extended maternity leaves upto 6 months.
    The solution to your problem is addressed on my post… https://yourwellwisherprogram.wordpress.com/2015/05/08/malnutrition-quit-india-few-solutions-proposed/
    regards
    Your Well Wisher Program

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