Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday opposed the notion of paid menstrual leave in the Rajya Sabha, asserting that such a policy could lead to discrimination against women in the workplace.
Irani was responding to a query by Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha on whether the government is looking into providing a law for menstrual leave.
“Given today, women are opting for more and more economic opportunities, I will just put my personal view on this, I am not the officiating ministry. We should not propose issues where women are in some way denied an equal opportunity just because somebody who does not menstruate has a particular viewpoint towards menstruation,” she said.
Irani also said that she is a menstruating woman herself and that “menstruation and menstrual cycle is not a handicap” but rather a “natural aspect of a woman’s life journey.”
She cautioned against proposing policies that might inadvertently hinder women’s opportunities based on the viewpoints of those who do not menstruate.
The discussion extended to Bihar’s previous implementation of a menstrual leave policy under former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
However, when asked about the potential regulation of harmful chemicals in sanitary napkins, Irani clarified that such matters fall outside the purview of the Women and Child Development Ministry, saying that no complaints have been recorded regarding government-provided sanitary pads.
The topic of menstrual leave has been a point of contention with Spain’s recent legislation permitting paid leave for painful periods, marking it first in Europe.
However, within the Indian context, Irani clarified that there is currently no government proposal under consideration to mandate paid menstrual leave across all workplaces, as said in response to a query from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on December 8.