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PROGRESSIVE POLICY, PREDICTABLE PITFALLS
The New Indian Express
|October 20, 2025
KARNATAKA'S new menstrual leave policy for 2025 is being hailed as progressive: a day's paid leave a month for public and private sector workers.
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In India, where menstruation is still shrouded in discomfort and silence, the objective is to normalise menstruation in a gender-sensitive work environment. The policy aims to acknowledge that periods can involve pain, fatigue, and hygiene issues and create a workplace that doesn't pretend otherwise. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called it "a step towards a more humane, understanding, and inclusive workplace". Karnataka is no pioneer. Bihar implemented its two-day leave policy in 1992. Kerala gives women workers in government ITIs two days' leave a month.
However, the feel-good language deserves pressure-testing.
Other countries introduced menstrual leave long before India.
This story is from the October 20, 2025 edition of The New Indian Express.
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