By Ibu Sanjeeb Garg
Beating the Rhetoric
The Maternity Benefits (Amendments) Bill 2016 is set to become an Act as soon as it receives the assent of the President. The Bill with a set of new provisions has brought a cheer among those fighting for women’s rights. At the same time others have expressed concerns and urged people to view it with caution. The salient features of the Bill include expansion of paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks to female workers, maternity leave up to 12 months in case of woman adopting a child below the age of three months and provision of crèche for any firm employing more than 50 employees.
Despite reservations expressed by many quarters this Bill takes the right step forward in the quest for women’s rights and equality in the workplace. At the onset it must be remembered that the scope of this Bill largely benefits only the organised sector of which government employees form a major part. The larger informal economy stays outside the gambit of this bill. Hence to believe that this Bill would suddenly empower all women is a misjudgement. Yet it does give a right signal for the start. The government itself has taken a proactive role by walking the path. The intentions are clear and surely for the good.
Critics of the Bill argue on the scale of economics. The rule of provisioning of crèche they argue would raise additional costs for these entities. Instead of bearing such costs they would rather hire other workers. Others have argued that once the Bill becomes a law organisations would detest from employing woman because if a high skilled labour suddenly leaves then it creates financial implications. Yet as studies have shown us worldwide the costs of letting a high skilled woman worker go and hiring a new person is usually higher than the cost of actually retaining the same. In fact a lot of major multinational corporations have work from home facility for their women staff. While the length depends on a case to basis yet the flexibility to work from home creates a win win situation for all. This however cannot be true in the case of those workers employed in the low skill sector. Such sector will perhaps see adverse effects of the same.
Yet as history is testimony, in seeking balance between economic rights and question of equity the equilibrium is always unnerved before it finally reaches a new equilibrium. As studies worldwide would have shown, equal pay movements have always shaken up the system. This is before they settle into a more defined equilibrium where men and women work with equal rights and equal privileges. Hence even if some sector witness a slowdown eventually the sector would rebalance itself.
At the same time global awareness and increasing discussion so issues such as women rights have made companies more responsive to changing social discourses. Companies do not want to be known for their profits alone rather inclusiveness is a key into their branding profile. In such a situation no major financial entity would like to aggravate half of the total population of the country by practising policies that are not pro women in the 21st century. For others this Bill would be starting point of their own hedging towards better working environment conditions. While it is true that the Bill only seeks to cover 10% of the working population it will also act as a guiding beacon for the rest 90% of the population as well.
Other critics of the Bill argue that India is not in that certain economic equilibrium where it can dole out redistributive social justice in the lines of the Western democracies. However in the matter of rights and the quest of social justice the question of economic might does not arise. Social justice is an ideal that every nation strives to achieve. Our Constitution tries to amalgamate these ideas through the Directive Principles of State Policy enshrined in the Constitution. Maternity benefits are part of that ideal we hope to achieve through the Directive Principles of State Policy.
Another marked departure from traditions and extension of maternal benefits include benefits to woman who are adopting a child. This is indeed the most welcome step of all. India has not been able to imbibe an adoption culture in its ethos despite a large number of care centres running around the country. The major reason behind the same is traditional family value based system embodied deep within the cultural values of India. The step where government encourages adoption could provide as a conducting rod for society to change its own views about adoption.
Yet this step in itself is not the final solution towards maternity benefits or female rights. Rather each of these small steps opens up the discourse on gender rights a little further. Numerous studies around the world have shown how women in education, women in industry and women in employment significantly improve the GDP of any nation. And yet the question of gender rights is not limited to the idea of betterment of economy alone. It also seeks to further the cause of creating a just and equitable society. And it is in this background that the Maternity Benefits Amendment Bill 2016 must be viewed as well as applauded for being a step in the right direction.
( Views expressed by the author are personal)