New Delhi, The National Commission for Women has made 37 recommendations to the Union government to strengthen maternity and childcare protection, including extending gender-neutral childcare leave to private-sector employees, introducing mandatory paid paternity leave across sectors and creating five lakh creche seats by 2030.
The recommendations are based on deliberations held during a National Consultation on Laws Relating to Maternity and Child Care organised by the NCW on May 5 at the Dr Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.
The commission has submitted its recommendatory report to the Department of Personnel and Training, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Labour and Employment. It has proposed reforms across nine key areas, including maternity benefits, child care leave , paternity leave, childcare infrastructure, nursing and lactation support, private-sector coverage and workplace discrimination. In a major shift towards shared caregiving, the NCW has recommended transforming the existing women-centric child care leave framework into a gender-neutral child care leave, available to either parent. The NCW has also recommended extending CCL to private-sector employees through a phased implementation, beginning with large industries and subsequently covering medium and small enterprises. The NCW has recommended introducing mandatory paid paternity leave in the private and unorganised sectors, with statutory frameworks applicable uniformly across sectors. It also recommends moving towards flexible shared parental leave systems, drawing from models similar to those followed in the Nordic countries. The report proposes multiple childcare compliance models for establishments, including on-site creches, shared or cluster-based creches and contributions to a State Childcare Fund. The report also called for minimum national standards for creche facilities, resource pooling among MSMEs and greater workplace flexibility through work-from-home arrangements and flexible workload systems. It has also proposed making the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana a universal and legally enforceable entitlement. It has also proposed dedicated lactation rooms at establishments and stronger enforcement mechanisms to ensure nursing-break provisions are implemented. The commission has recommended reconsidering the two-child restriction for CCL eligibility and proposed including the third child through a graded model. On enforcement, the report has recommended stronger grievance redressal mechanisms for women workers, particularly those in the informal sector, along with regular legal aid awareness camps on maternity benefits and childcare rights. It has also called for greater awareness among women workers, employers, trade unions, government officials and district administrations, along with stronger implementation and accountability under the labour codes. The NCW has further recommended stronger punitive mechanisms and penalties for employer non-compliance. Addressing workplace discrimination, the commission has proposed measures to prevent recruitment discrimination against women arising from maternity and childcare benefits.
The report proposes dividing the existing 730-day CCL structure equally between both working parents, with 365 days each, or allowing a common pool where both parents work in the same organisation. For children aged 0-2 years, it further proposes a 60:40 shared-care model between primary and secondary caregivers, the commission said. It has proposed incorporating CCL into the Code on Social Security, 2020, along with tax incentives and financial support for employers that adopt childcare policies. To strengthen childcare infrastructure, the commission has proposed a National Childcare Infrastructure Mission to create five lakh creche seats by 2030 through Union-State cooperation. Calling for maternity protection to reach women beyond the formal workforce, NCW has recommended extending maternity and childcare benefits to informal, gig and platform workers, noting that over 90 per cent of women workers remain outside effective coverage. The commission has recommended operationalising Section 109 of the Code on Social Security, 2020 through a dedicated Maternity & Childcare Fund, supported by the state and employers. It has proposed parity in maternity benefits for biological, adoptive and commissioning mothers, including increasing leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. The report also calls for amending Section 60 of the Social Security Code, 2020 in light of the Supreme Court ruling concerning adoptive mothers, while advocating a child-centric caregiving framework. For nursing mothers, the NCW has recommended increasing the existing nursing break from 15 minutes to 30 minutes each, along with clear rules prescribing minimum break duration.
“The Commission’s Recommendatory Report on Laws Relating to Maternity and Child Care presents 37 recommendations across nine key areas, aimed at establishing a more inclusive, gender-neutral and comprehensive framework for maternity and childcare protection,” the NCW said in a statement. It has also recommended expanding Child Care Leave eligibility to include the third child through a graded model, while also promoting greater uniformity in State-level rules governing CCL and maternity benefits, it said.
It has also called for addressing the impact of career breaks on women’s promotions, salaries and pensions, and changing workplace perceptions that women availing CCL are less committed to their work. The recommendations seek to move towards a system in which childcare is not treated as a woman’s responsibility alone, maternity protection reaches every section of the workforce, and parenthood does not come at the cost of a woman’s career. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
