{"id":45857,"date":"2025-06-21T18:32:58","date_gmt":"2025-06-21T13:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=45857"},"modified":"2025-06-23T18:49:47","modified_gmt":"2025-06-23T13:19:47","slug":"financing-maternity-rights-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/21-06-2025\/financing-maternity-rights-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Financing Maternity Rights in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Social Issues<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The recent landmark <strong>Supreme Court <\/strong>judgment on <strong>K Uma Devi vs State of Tamil Nadu<\/strong> pronounced is significant for recognising <strong>maternity rights as a Fundamental Right under Article 21<\/strong> of the Constitution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About the Maternity Rights in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Historical Context<\/strong>: The <strong>Maternity Benefit Act of 1961<\/strong> laid the legislative foundation for Maternity Rights in India.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It was aimed at regulating employment conditions for women during the <strong>prenatal and postnatal periods.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It provided <strong>12 weeks of paid leave<\/strong> and protected women from dismissal during maternity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, coverage was <strong>largely limited to the organized sector<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act of 2017:<\/strong> It aims to increase paid maternity leave <strong>from 12 to 26 weeks<\/strong> for women working in <strong>establishments with 10 or more employees.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It made India one of the few countries offering such an extensive duration of paid leave.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns &amp; Challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Organized vs Unorganized Divide:<\/strong> Over 90% of working women in India are in the <strong>unorganized sector <\/strong>such as domestic work, agriculture, or contract labor<strong>, where the Act doesn\u2019t apply<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>These women often work without formal contracts, health coverage, or awareness of entitlements.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financial Burden on Employers:<\/strong> The leave is <strong>entirely employer-funded, <\/strong>discouraging some businesses \u2014 particularly SMEs \u2014 from hiring women.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It has prompted calls for a social insurance model or state-supported financing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Limited Paternity Leave: <\/strong>The law offers <strong>no corresponding rights to fathers<\/strong>, reinforcing gendered caregiving norms and placing disproportionate burdens on working mothers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enforcement Challenges: <\/strong>Compliance and awareness are low, particularly in non-metro regions.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Many women are unaware of their rights or lack access to grievance redressal mechanisms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Comparative Analysis of Financing Maternity Rights<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to a comparative study of 82 countries, 44% fund maternity benefits through social security contributions, while <strong>only 15% \u2014 including India <\/strong>\u2014 rely solely on employer funding, a model increasingly seen as unsustainable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Efforts Related to Financing Maternity Rights in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/pradhan-mantri-matru-vandhana-yojana-pmmvy\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/blog\/pradhan-mantri-matru-vandhana-yojana-pmmvy\/\">Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)<\/a>: <\/strong>It provides a cash incentive of \u20b95,000 to pregnant and lactating women for the first live birth, aimed at partially compensating wage loss and supporting health-seeking behavior.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Employees\u2019 State Insurance Corporation (ESIC):<\/strong> It is employer-employee contribution based, and provides a more stable financing model compared to employer-only funding.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Eligible women<\/strong> receive 100% of their average daily wages for 26 weeks of maternity leave.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Its coverage is<strong> limited to formal sector workers <\/strong>registered under the scheme.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Maternity Benefit Fund (Proposed): <\/strong>It aims <strong>to support SMEs and the informal sector <\/strong>particularly<strong>.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The idea revolves around shared contributions from the government, employers, and possibly employees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy Maternity Benefit Scheme (Tamil Nadu):<\/strong> It offers \u20b918,000 in phased payments, significantly higher than the central allocation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Supreme Court Observation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Maternity as a Fundamental Right: <\/strong>The <strong>Supreme Court<\/strong> declared maternity rights to be part of the <strong>right to life and dignity<\/strong>, thus elevating their legal status and enforceability. The judgement is based on <strong>international conventions<\/strong>, including:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Universal Declaration of Human Rights;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (<strong>CEDAW<\/strong>);<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>ILO Maternity Protection Convention C183 (2000);<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UN Economic and Social Council instruments;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>ILO Reference:<\/strong> The Court made a<strong> reference to <\/strong><strong><em>\u2018Care at Work\u2019 <\/em><\/strong><strong>&#8211; 2022 (ILO Report)<\/strong> and noted that <strong>123 countries<\/strong> offer fully paid maternity leave, which benefits 90% of mothers globally.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India, with <strong>26 weeks of paid maternity leave<\/strong>, is now among <strong>42 countries<\/strong> that <strong>exceed ILO\u2019s C183 standard<\/strong> <strong>of 18 weeks<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Court reaffirms the <strong>Maternity Benefit Act, 1961<\/strong> as the <strong>normative legislative framework<\/strong>, and acknowledges that the<strong> State is constitutionally obligated<\/strong> to implement maternity benefits in a non-discriminatory manner, aligned with service conditions across employment sectors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>World Social Protection Report 2024\u201326 of ILO <\/strong>highlighted that most nations rely on <strong>tax-financed or contributory schemes<\/strong> rather than employer-only funding.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It includes public social protection schemes, tax-based support models, and inclusion of informal and self-employed women etc.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financing the Maternity Benefits Right: <\/strong>Historically, the <strong>Bombay Maternity Benefit Act of 1929<\/strong> placed the burden solely on employers.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>However, modern policy models favour <strong>social insurance, public financing, or mixed models<\/strong> (as advocated by the <strong>ILO) <\/strong>to avoid burdening individual employers and prevent discriminatory hiring.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Daily Mains Practice Question<\/strong><br><strong>[Q]<\/strong> Critically evaluate the challenges and policy implications associated with financing maternity rights in India.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindubusinessline.com\/opinion\/financing-maternity-rights-in-india\/article69718663.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Source: BL<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/UPSC-Editorial-Analysis-21-June-2025.PDF.pdf\">Download PDF<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial-analysis"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45857"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45988,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45857\/revisions\/45988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}