Policy Must See Infant Care As Gender Neutral

In February 2025, the Supreme Court of India passed a landmark order in Maatr Sparsh An Initiative by Avyaan Foundation v. Union of India on public breastfeeding.

- Jwalika Balaji

In February 2025, the Supreme Court of India passed a landmark order in Maatr Sparsh An Initiative by Avyaan Foundation v. Union of India on public breastfeeding. The court held that the right to breastfeed, nurse, and undertake infant-care in public is rooted in both the mother's and child's Constitutional rights. It linked this to the child's right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, read in conjunction with Directive Principles of State Policy — Articles 39(f) (the State's duty to ensure children's health) and 47 (the State's duty to improve nutrition). It also affirmed the mother's constitutional right to breastfeed in public, linking it to maternal health and gender equality. Correspondingly, the State was directed to create supportive infrastructure for breastfeeding and infant care, both in public areas and at workplaces.

A similar direction was issued in January 2025, by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Rajeeb Kalita v. Union of India. The Court ordered all high courts to constitute a committee to, among other things, provide rooms — interconnected with the women's washroom — with feeding stations and changing tables in all court complexes to cater to nursing mothers and mothers with infants.