Indus Valley Times

By Nalini Sahu

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 16: In a significant development, the Odisha government on Thursday announced one-day menstrual leave for the state government and private sector employees on the occasion of 78th Independence Day.

The announcement was made by the Odisha deputy chief minister Pravati Parida during district-level Independence Day celebration in Cuttack.

The women employees of both the state government and private sector can avail the leave on the first or second day of the menstrual cycle.

“Earlier menstrual leave was not allowed in our state. Now the women employees can avail the leave on the first or second day of the menstrual cycle. It is optional for them. It will be applied both in the government and the private sectors. We believe the women employees of our state will appreciate this,” said the deputy CM.

Stating that menstrual leave was a long standing demand for working women, noted social activist Namrata Chadha Parida said the deputy CM deserved special thanks from the women community.

“I am thankful to deputy chief minister Pravati Parida for the announcement on behalf of all the working women. It can be easily implemented in the government sector. However, it will be difficult to implement in the private and corporate sectors. It will be more difficult in case of women employees working in unorganized sectors and working as contractual workers. Even they are not getting maternity leaves there,” observed Chadha.

“When many private organisations are not even allowing maternity leave, it will be difficult for them to allow paid menstrual leave. I would like to request the deputy chief minister to ensure its implementation in the private sector,” she said.

Earlier, Odia woman Ranjeeta Priyadarshini from Sambalpur had launched an online campaign addressing Union labour and employment minister to provide paid leave to all women employees at government and private organisations who are on their periods.