Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha asked in a supplementary question whether the government would take steps to make it mandatory for employers to grant certain leave to women employees.
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Wednesday told Rajya Sabha that menstrual leave could lead to discrimination against women in the job market.
She was responding to a question about whether the government was considering passing a menstrual leave law.
“Because today women are choosing more and more economic opportunities, I only give my personal opinion on this issue, I am not the Ministry in charge. We shouldn’t be asking questions where women are somehow denied equal opportunities just because someone who doesn’t menstruate has a particular view about menstruation,” she said. Rashtriya Janata Dal MP Manoj Kumar Jha asked in a supplementary question whether the government would take steps to make it mandatory for employers to grant certain leave to women employees.
Irani added that as a menstruating woman herself, “menstruation and the menstrual cycle are not an obstacle.”
“It’s a natural part of a woman’s life journey,” she said.
Jha said that Bihar, under former chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, was the first state to have a menstrual leave policy.
He also asked whether the government was considering regulating toxic chemicals used in sanitary napkins. While Irani said production-related issues do not fall under the purview of the Ministry of Women and Child Development, there were no complaints regarding sanitary napkins provided by the government.
Suvidha sanitary napkins are sold for Rs 1 under the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Jan Aushadhi Pariyojana scheme, an affordable health scheme.
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