In Parliament, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha demanded that paternity leave be a legal right in India.
Currently, paternity leave exists in the government sector in India, but is not mandated by law in the private sector.
Central government employees are entitled to 15 days of paid leave within six months of childbirth or adoption. But in the private sector, this is considered a contractual benefit rather than a right, and policies vary widely between companies.
“When a child is born, we congratulate both the parents. But the custodial responsibility lies with one. The mother,” Chadha said, raising the demand in the Rajya Sabha during the ongoing budget session of Parliament.
“A father should not have to choose between caring for a newborn and keeping his job. And a mother should not have to go through childbirth and recovery without the support of her husband,” he said.
Which countries are legally entitled to paternity leave?
Paternity leave exists as a legal entitlement in many countries, but the length, pay and eligibility vary widely. It is generally most established in Europe, parts of Latin America and Asia.
“In countries like Sweden, Iceland and Japan, this statutory right is provided between 90 days to 52 weeks as a guaranteed right. In India, 90 percent of the workforce is in the private sector. This means that most fathers do not have this right,” Chadha said.
A father should not have to choose between caring for a newborn and keeping his job.
Just after giving birth, a woman needs her husband’s presence the most, the AAP leader said.
“A husband’s caring responsibility towards his wife is equally important. I raised this issue in Parliament because caring is a shared responsibility. Our laws must reflect this,” he said.
Chadha reports crisis in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune
Chadha consistently raises issues in Parliament. Last week, an Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha member from Punjab said in the Rajya Sabha that commuters in Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi are stuck in traffic for at least 100 hours a year – “I don’t commute. I just sit.”
Chadha stressed that every hour lost “is an hour India cannot get back. Lost productivity, wasted fuel, polluted air, damaged quality of life.”
Chadha called for a “National Mission to Eliminate Urban Congestion” – better public transport, smarter traffic management and science-based parking policies that would curb the $20 billion to $30 billion in annual economic losses from idling vehicles and reduced productivity, according to World Bank Urban Mobility Study.
