Financing Maternity Rights in India

Syllabus: GS2/Social Issues

Context

• The recent landmark Supreme Court judgment on K Uma Devi vs State of Tamil Nadu pronounced is significant for recognising maternity rights as a Fundamental Right under Article 21 of the Constitution.

About the Maternity Rights in India

• Historical Context: The Maternity Benefit Act of 1961 laid the legislative foundation for Maternity Rights in India.
  • It was aimed at regulating employment conditions for women during the prenatal and postnatal periods.
  • It provided 12 weeks of paid leave and protected women from dismissal during maternity.
  • However, coverage was largely limited to the organized sector.
• Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act of 2017: It aims to increase paid maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks for women working in establishments with 10 or more employees.
  • It made India one of the few countries offering such an extensive duration of paid leave.

Concerns & Challenges

• Organized vs Unorganized Divide: Over 90% of working women in India are in the unorganized sector such as domestic work, agriculture, or contract labor, where the Act doesn’t apply.
• These women often work without formal contracts, health coverage, or awareness of entitlements.
• Financial Burden on Employers: The leave is entirely employer-funded, discouraging some businesses — particularly SMEs — from hiring women.
  • It has prompted calls for a social insurance model or state-supported financing.
• Limited Paternity Leave: The law offers no corresponding rights to fathers, reinforcing gendered caregiving norms and placing disproportionate burdens on working mothers.
• Enforcement Challenges: Compliance and awareness are low, particularly in non-metro regions.
  • Many women are unaware of their rights or lack access to grievance redressal mechanisms.

Comparative Analysis of Financing Maternity Rights

• According to a comparative study of 82 countries, 44% fund maternity benefits through social security contributions, while only 15% — including India — rely solely on employer funding, a model increasingly seen as unsustainable.

Key Efforts Related to Financing Maternity Rights in India

• Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY): It provides a cash incentive of ₹5,000 to pregnant and lactating women for the first live birth, aimed at partially compensating wage loss and supporting health-seeking behavior.
• Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC): It is employer-employee contribution based, and provides a more stable financing model compared to employer-only funding.
  • Eligible women receive 100% of their average daily wages for 26 weeks of maternity leave.
  • Its coverage is limited to formal sector workers registered under the scheme.
• Maternity Benefit Fund (Proposed): It aims to support SMEs and the informal sector particularly.
  • The idea revolves around shared contributions from the government, employers, and possibly employees.
• Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme (Tamil Nadu): It offers ₹18,000 in phased payments, significantly higher than the central allocation.

Supreme Court Observation

• Maternity as a Fundamental Right: The Supreme Court declared maternity rights to be part of the right to life and dignity, thus elevating their legal status and enforceability. The judgement is based on international conventions, including:
  • Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
  • Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW);
  • ILO Maternity Protection Convention C183 (2000);
  • UN Economic and Social Council instruments;
• ILO Reference: The Court made a reference to ‘Care at Work’ – 2022 (ILO Report) and noted that 123 countries offer fully paid maternity leave, which benefits 90% of mothers globally.
  • India, with 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, is now among 42 countries that exceed ILO’s C183 standard of 18 weeks.
• The Court reaffirms the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 as the normative legislative framework, and acknowledges that the State is constitutionally obligated to implement maternity benefits in a non-discriminatory manner, aligned with service conditions across employment sectors.

Way Forward

• World Social Protection Report 2024–26 of ILO highlighted that most nations rely on tax-financed or contributory schemes rather than employer-only funding.
  • It includes public social protection schemes, tax-based support models, and inclusion of informal and self-employed women etc.
• Financing the Maternity Benefits Right: Historically, the Bombay Maternity Benefit Act of 1929 placed the burden solely on employers.
  • However, modern policy models favour social insurance, public financing, or mixed models (as advocated by the ILO) to avoid burdening individual employers and prevent discriminatory hiring.

Source: BL