India News Get -CareerSikkim University announces menstrual leave to students | Menstrual leave policy
Sikkim University has announced that it will provide one day of menstrual leave to students. The Sikkim University Students’ Union (SUSA) had been demanding this for several months. In November, SUSA submitted its proposal to the university. After that, this decision was made.
On December 4, Sikkim University Registrar Laxman Sharma issued his notification. According to this, female university students can take one day of menstrual leave every month. However, this leave cannot be taken during the exam. It is necessary to have 75% attendance for the university’s internal exam. In this context, an exemption will be granted for leave taken as menstrual leave.
Earlier, on November 28, it was announced that it would provide two days of menstrual leave every month to students studying in industrial training institutes, namely IITs in Kerala. Students studying in over a hundred IITs in the state will benefit.
Students from Kerala, employees from Bihar and Odisha get menstrual leave.
In Bihar, rules regarding menstrual leave have been in force since 1992. Under this, women government employees are given two days of leave every month. This does not change anything in the employees’ salaries. This year also in Odisha, it was announced to provide one day of menstrual leave every month to women employees.
At the same time, the Kerala government has implemented a menstrual leave policy for female students of all colleges and universities in the state by 2023. Besides, 60 days maternity leave has also been announced for women over 18 years old.
There are no rules or policies regarding menstrual leave at the national level.
This year, the Supreme Court asked the central government to come up with a model policy regarding menstrual leave for women employees. The court of then Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had said that periodic leave was a policy-related issue and could not be examined by the court. The bench said if the court delivers its verdict, it could be detrimental and companies might avoid hiring women.
Although Section 3 of Article 15 of the Constitution allows for special provisions to be made for women, so far no law has been passed in the country regarding menstrual leave. There are no legal rules regarding the pay of workers who take time off during their periods. In recent years, there have been many debates on this issue in businesses, educational institutions and social forums. In 2017, the “Menstrual Benefits Bill” was also presented to Parliament. After that, a bill titled “Menstrual Health Products Bill” was introduced in 2018. A bill with the same name was also introduced in 2022, but none of these bills could be passed by the House and become law.
The Menstrual Health Products Bill 2022 recommends 3 days of paid leave without any salary deduction for menstruating women and trans women. Citing a study, it was also reported that 40% of girls had to miss school during their periods.
Menstrual leave law implemented in 8 countries
Spain was the first European country to pass legislation on menstrual leave. Under this regulation, Spanish women get 3 days off during their period. This leave can be extended by 2 additional days.
The case of Bhuj, Gujarat in 2020 is an example of the problems girls may face during their periods due to the absence of a national law. At the Sahajanand Girls Institute, associated with the Swami Narayan sect, girls were kept in hostels and isolated from other girls during their periods. When the girls protested against this, 66 girls were forced to undress in front of the teachers, so that it could be seen whether or not they had their menstrual cycle. In this case, a complaint was filed against the college principal and a peon.
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Smriti Irani said, “Women do not need menstrual leave: it is a part of our life, not a weakness.
Union Minister Smriti Irani has expressed disagreement over providing paid menstrual leave to working women. …