A transformative policy shift could soon redefine work-life balance for working parents across the country. The National Commission for Women has submitted an exhaustive charter featuring 37 recommendations spanning nine critical domains to the central government. The formal submission has been placed before the Department of Personnel and Training, the Ministry of Women and Child Development, and the Ministry of Labour and Employment for systematic policy formulation. The overarching framework seeks to modernize maternity guidelines while establishing equitable childcare responsibilities between both partners.
Transforming Child Care Leave Into a Gender-Neutral Benefit
A central pillar of the commission's proposal is remodeling the existing Child Care Leave framework so that it ceases to be an exclusive prerogative of mothers. Under the proposed blueprint, the existing entitlement of 730 days of Child Care Leave would be split evenly between both employed parents, granting 365 days to each. For married couples employed within the same organization, enterprises could institute a shared leave pool arrangement. Furthermore, for infants aged zero to two years, the commission suggests introducing a 60:40 shared parental care structure to distribute early-stage nurturing responsibilities more evenly.
Extending Parental Leave Protocols to the Private Sector
Historically, long-term childcare leave provisions have remained confined largely to government employment. The commission has now proposed extending these child-rearing safeguards to private corporate entities as well. To prevent sudden operational friction for enterprises, a phased rollout strategy has been designed. Initial compliance would be mandated for large-scale industrial employers, followed by gradual inclusion of medium and small-scale businesses. Formal implementation of these measures will necessitate targeted amendments to the Social Security Code.
Mandatory Paid Paternity Leave Across Diverse Sectors
Challenging the conventional convention that early-stage infant care belongs entirely to mothers, the commission has called for statutory paid paternity leave across all working environments, including private companies and the unorganized workforce. The panel highlighted that fathers must be provided equitable institutional support to play an active, hand-on role in daily caregiving duties, thereby dismantling traditional gender biases surrounding childcare.
National Child Care Infrastructure Mission and Creche Capacity
Securing reliable, professional childcare near work remains an immense hurdle for working women. To overcome this structural shortfall, the commission has recommended launching a dedicated National Child Care Infrastructure Mission. The goal involves establishing 5 lakh creche slots across the nation by 2030. Proposed operational mechanisms include on-site workplace nurseries, collaborative shared creche centers for clustered corporate parks, and state-level child care funding pools to sustain infrastructure expansion.
Safeguarding Platform, Gig, and Unorganized Sector Workers
The commission underlined that millions of women working within the platform economy, gig platforms, and informal labor segments currently navigate pregnancy and postpartum care with negligible safety nets. To bridge this divide, the establishment of a dedicated Maternity and Child Care Fund has been recommended. Alongside this fund, the charter urges the government to make the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana a universal, legally protected entitlement for every working mother.
Parity for Adoptive Mothers and Workplace Lactation Support
The proposal also seeks regulatory parity between biological mothers and those expanding families via adoption or surrogacy. The panel recommends extending maternity leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers from the prevailing 12 weeks to 26 weeks. Concurrently, operational support for nursing mothers at work would be strengthened by doubling the mandatory nursing break from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. Employers across offices and factories would also be obliged to provide dedicated lactation rooms and enforce stringent statutory compliance.
Expanding Leave to Three Children and Eliminating Career Penalties
Addressing structural ceilings in career progression, the commission recommended reviewing the two-child restriction currently governing Child Care Leave. The report outlines an approach to extend childcare leave benefits progressively up to a third child. Fundamentally, the commission urged that childbirth and family duties must never jeopardize a woman's professional standing, demanding strict prohibitions against discrimination in hiring, promotions, remuneration structures, and pension calculations across Indian workplaces.
