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- Sikkim University Announces Menstrual Leave To Students | Menstrual Leave Policy
12 minutes agoAuthor: Shivendra Gaurav
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Sikkim University has announced to give one day menstrual leave to the students. Sikkim University Students Union (SUSA) had been demanding this for several months. In November, SUSA submitted its proposal to the university. After this this decision has been taken.
On December 4, Registrar of Sikkim University, Laxman Sharma has issued its notification. According to this, female students of the university can take one day menstrual leave every month. However, this leave cannot be taken during the exam. It is necessary to have 75% attendance in the internal examination of the university. In this, exemption will be given for holidays taken as menstrual leave.
Earlier, on November 28, it was announced to give two days menstrual leave every month to the students studying in Industrial Training Institutes i.e. ITIs of Kerala. Students studying in more than a hundred ITIs of the state will benefit from this.
Students in Kerala, employees in Bihar, Odisha get menstrual leave.
In Bihar, rules regarding menstrual leave have been in place since 1992. Under this, women employees of the state are given two days leave every month. It does not make any difference to the salary of the employees. This year also in Odisha, it has been announced to give one day menstrual leave every month to women employees.
At the same time, the Kerala government has implemented menstrual leave policy for female students of all colleges and universities of the state in the year 2023. Apart from this, 60 days maternity leave has also been announced for women above 18 years of age.
There is no rule or policy regarding menstrual leave at the national level.
This year, the Supreme Court had asked the Central Government to make a model policy regarding menstrual leave for women employees. The bench of the then Chief Justice DY Chandrachud had said that period leave is an issue related to policy, it cannot be considered in the court. The bench said that if the court gives its verdict, it could be harmful and companies may avoid hiring women.
Although Section 3 of Article 15 of the Constitution allows making special provisions for women, till now no law has been made in the country regarding leave on menstrual days. There is no legal rule regarding the salary of working women who take leave during menstruation. In the last few years, there has been a lot of debate on this issue in corporate, educational institutes and social forums. In the year 2017, ‘Menstruation Benefits Bill’ was also introduced in the Parliament. After this, a bill named ‘Menstrual Health Products Bill’ came in 2018. A bill with the same name was also brought in 2022, but none of these bills could pass the House and become law.
The Menstrual Health Products Bill 2022 recommends 3 days of paid leave from work without any salary deduction to menstruating women and transwomen. Quoting a research, it has also been said that 40% of girls have to take leave from school during periods.
Menstrual leave law implemented in 8 countries
Spain was the first European country to enact menstrual leave legislation. Under this, Spanish women get 3 days leave during their periods. This leave can be extended by 2 more days.
The 2020 case of Bhuj in Gujarat is an example of the problems girls may face during their menstruation due to the absence of any national law. At Sahajanand Girls Institute, associated with the Swami Narayan sect, girls were kept in hostels and isolated from other girls during menstruation. When the girls protested against this, 66 girls were forced to take off their clothes in front of the teachers, so that it could be seen whether the girls were having their menstrual cycle or not. In this matter, a case was registered against the college principal and peon.
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