JOIN USSurrogate mothers may get maternity leave
Women employees choosing for surrogacy could avail maternity leave for six months, according to a proposal under government consideration.
In a first, male employees could also be allowed to avail paternity leave in case of his partner opting for surrogacy.
These are part of the draft rules circulated by the Department of Personnel and Training for comments from ministries on childcare leave.
At present, there is no provision of any kind of leave for surrogate and commissioning mothers. Existing norms allow grant of maternity leave to a female government employee for a period of 135 days.
“It is proposed that 180 days maternity leave may be granted to the surrogate as well as commissioning mothers, in case either/both of them are government servants. The commissioning mother also requires time for bonding with her child and to take care of him/her and hence would also become eligible for Child Care Leave (CCL),” the proposal said.
The government also plans to do away with the age limit for CCL in case of disabled children since the requirement of parental care may be more when such a child grows older.
“It may therefore be allowed to provide for CCL in the case of disabled children—the “disability” being clearly defined by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment—without any age limit provided the maximum CCL that can be availed remains within the ceiling of 730 days,” it said.
Another suggestion is allowing employees to avail LTC while they are on CCL, provided clearances from appropriate competent authorities are taken while proceeding on foreign travel.
“The underlying intent of CCL is to allow care of up to two children whether for rearing or to look after any of their needs like examination, sickness etc. Thus, it is not restricted to exam and sickness alone. Taking care may also include ensuring their rest and recreation and towards that objective leaving headquarters or availing LTC can be allowed,” it said.