Smriti Irani Opposes Paid Menstrual Leave for Women Employees

New Delhi: Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani opposed the proposal of mandatory paid menstrual leave for women employees while answering a question by MP Manoj Kumar Jha in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

“It’s a natural part of women’s life journey,” Irani said. According to her, menstrual leave could lead to discrimination against women in the workforce.

Recently Spain passed a bill allowing painful periods as a valid reason for paid leave.

But in India, there no such proposal under consideration by the government to mandate paid menstrual leave across all workplaces, clarified Irani in response to a question from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on December 8.

She accepted the importance of menstrual hygiene, and announced the formulation of a draft national policy to improve awareness and access to proper menstrual hygiene management practices across the country.

This announcement follows a report presented in Parliament on Monday, which indicated that the matter of special menstrual leave is considered a health issue and falls under the purview of the Health Ministry for examination.