Menstrual leaves: Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Friday mentioned that there isn’t any proposal under consideration of the federal government to make provision for paid menstrual depart mandatory for all workplaces. Irani was replying to a query by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor.
In her written reply to Lok Sabha, Irani mentioned that menstruation is a physiological phenomenon amongst girls and solely a small proportion of girls or ladies undergo from extreme dysmenorrhea or related complaints; and most of those circumstances are manageable by remedy.
Here’s what Smriti Irani mentioned on menstrual depart
“At present, there is no proposal under consideration of the Government to make provision for paid menstrual leave mandatory for all workplaces. However, various types of leave are available to a female Government employee under Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972 in the form of Earned Leave, Half Pay Leave, Extra Ordinary Leave, Child Care Leave, Commuted Leave, Maternity Leave, Leave on Medical Certificate, Leave Not due, etc,” Irani mentioned in her reply.
The Minister mentioned that the federal government implements the Scheme for the promotion of menstrual hygiene amongst adolescent ladies within the age group of 10-19 years. The Scheme is supported by the National Health Mission by means of the State Programme Implementation Plan (PIP) route based mostly on the proposals acquired from the States and UTs.
“One of the major objectives of the scheme is to increase awareness among adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene. Under the scheme a pack of sanitary napkins packs are provided to adolescent girls by the Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) at subsidized rates,” she mentioned.
Awareness on Menstrual Hygiene
She mentioned that the federal government additionally supplies a funds to the States and UTs for the Orientation of field-level well being employees and IEC actions for menstrual hygiene. “Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation under Swachh Bharat Abhiyan has developed National Guidelines on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) for creating awareness on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in rural areas as part of its overall interventions related to behaviour change on sanitation hygiene aspect,” mentioned Irani.
The Minister mentioned that to make sure entry to sanitary napkins and good high quality medicines at reasonably priced worth, the Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers implements the Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janausadhi Pariyojna (PMBJP), an vital step in making certain the well being safety for girls.
“Under the project, over 10000 Janaushidhi Kendras have been set up across the country, which besides affordable medicines, provide Oxo-biodegradable sanitary napkins named Suvidha at Rs 1 per pad only,” she added.
