Author’s : Suktika Bhattacharyya, Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College, University of Calcutta
Introduction
A Kandala, a village pig, a cock, a dog, a menstruating woman, and a eunuch must not look at the Brahmanas while they eat. What (any of) these sees at a burnt oblation, at a (solemn) gift, at a dinner (given to Brahmanas), or at any rite in honour of the gods and manes, that produces not the intended result.”
This interpretation in Manu Smriti highlights and attempts to create disparities between men and women with an extreme comparison between a menstruating woman and an animal.
In this world of modernization, despite enhancing communication about gender equity in the workplace, the topic of granting menstruation leave is still an unresolved issue in India. While few private companies and the parliament have made several attempts to resolve this problem, the judicial approach has remained dismissive from several perspectives.
This article focuses on the evolution of the menstrual leave policy in India in comparison to a global initiative, the necessity and depicting the social taboo, creating the barrier in the process of making a change.
To the point
Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. Menstrual pain is caused due to the contraction of the uterus, as it sheds its lining. The Higher levels of prostaglandin release can cause stronger uterine contractions, leading to more intense period pain. Doctors across the globe acknowledge that dysmenorrhoea or menstrual cramps can be as painful as heart attacks. Primary dysmenorrhea, which usually starts before two days of menstruation, causes periodic cramps. Along with it secondary dysmenorrhea can lead to several poor conditions in the body of women including- Endometriosis; where tissues grow unnaturally, Uterine Fibroids; Non-cancerous growths in the uterus that can lead to heavy bleeding and painful cramps, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID); infection in reproductive organ causing severe pain, Adenomyosis; when the uterine lining grows into the muscular wall of the uterus, leading to severe period pain and heavy bleeding.
Behind this scientific explanation, the taboo was traced into various religious extracts along with Indian mythology. In the Vedic era, Indra (the king of God) was convicted of killing Vritra (the demon of drought) and as he used to be Brahmin (considered as the upper caste among the Indian society) the former could have been cursed. So, Indra went to womenkind and asked them to take his guilt upon themselves via a regular cycle of repentance- aka menstruation. In the process of doing Indra a solid and washing away his sins with their blood every month, the ability to menstruate was a sort of eternal punishment that women were forced to accept.
On the other hand, the Bible depicts that “When a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be in her menstrual impurity for seven days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.”
The Holy Quran mentions “Beware of its harm! So, keep away, and do not have intercourse with your wives during their monthly cycles until they are purified. When they purify themselves, then you may approach them in the manner specified by Allah. Surely Allah loves those who always turn to Him in repentance and those who purify themselves.”
However, there are certain restrictions during this cycle especially in the rural areas in India as menstruating women are still considered to be impure.
Because of a lack of effective policy schemes and education, few elderly people don’t want to transform this years-long practice of avoiding temples, kitchens or touching pious things due to the excuse of menstruation. Here it is a special mention that in the temple of Kamakhya (India, Arunachal Pradesh) people celebrate the menstruation of Goddess Kamakhya. The lesson we can have that a country which worshipping the menstruation of their deity can’t accept a natural biological fact of their children and not ready to respect their necessities. Therefore, it’s vital to recognize that the issue is one of hygiene, not purity.
Even in various smart, educated society of India till now the practice the process of wrapping sanitary napkins with non-transparent bags or paper while buying from shop. And while the topic comes to bring a reform and make to wipe out the stigma by securing their right to have leave in their workplace the maximum number of males remain voiceless in the name of lack of equality. Educational institutions often exclude the chapter of the massive endurance of a school going teenage girl or a women who maintains both house and office with the period pain. A well-educated man is aware about the process of occurrence but not have adequate knowledge about the consequences. It must be understood woman and man have different kind of body structure. While in a woman who bleeds for consecutively 3 to 5 days has to survive with numerous physical conditions such as dysmenorrhea, nausea, heavy bleeding, cramps, and fatigue attached to the Pre-Menstrual Symptoms that can reduce the quality of work; the issue has been neglected numerous times in the nation.
According to a 2025 Naukri.com study of 70,000+ women, 34% prioritize menstrual leave over other benefits and 75% report no such provision at their workplaces. Women in informal jobs (e.g. waste pickers, construction workers) miss 3 days of work each month due to lack of toilets, privacy, or disposal options, causing both hygiene risks and income loss. Frequent health issues like UTIs and RTIs arise, ultimately impacting work attendance, earnings, and dignity. A report by Dasra suggests that nearly 23 million girls drop out of school annually due to lack of proper menstrual hygiene management facilities. The WaterAid report highlighted that illnesses related to a lack of water, basic sanitation and hygiene were responsible for the deaths of almost 800,000 women around the world in a single year making it the fifth biggest killer of women behind heart disease, stroke, lower respiratory infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Hence posting on social media on 28th of May observing World Menstrual Hygiene Day and writing pages for the demand of Menstrual leave aren’t sufficient alone, rather nationwide impactful legislation is an early need.
Abstract
This article critically examines the ongoing debate over menstrual leave in India, highlighting the socio-cultural, historical, legal, and policy dimensions of the issue. Despite increasing conversations around gender equity, menstrual leave remains largely unaddressed in India’s legal and workplace frameworks. Drawing on global precedents—from Japan to Spain—and India’s own sporadic efforts at state and corporate levels, the article underscores how menstrual health is still treated as taboo. It explores the scientific basis for menstrual pain, the religious stigmas surrounding menstruation, and the failure of the judiciary and legislature to enact meaningful reform. The piece also reviews key case laws, public policy proposals, and backlash from political figures and feminists, illustrating the resistance rooted in systemic gender bias. Concluding with a constitutional lens, it argues that menstrual leave is not a special privilege but a right tied to health, dignity, and equality, necessitating urgent, inclusive policy intervention.
The proof (the failed & successful attempts & nationwide response)
“Agreed, with hard work and persistent effort it is indeed possible for women to do the same things and gender doesn’t necessarily deter us from setting professional goals. But periods sometimes do”. Indira Nooyi, – Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo
Amidst the rising tension of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the demand arose regarding an equal number of women in the workforce. After the revolution the Government under Lenin interpreted paid maternity leave, reduced working hours for women, moreover, recognized menstruation as a workplace issue. This long-term policy impacted socialist feminist policy.
Later Japan appeared as emerged as the 1st country to grant a menstrual leave policy as per Article 68 of Japan’s Labor Standards Law (1947) preceding Indonesia in 1948, Vietnam in 2012(paid) and more.
Zambia became the first country to offer paid menstrual leave each month for all female workers without any explanation or a medical certificate. This policy is referred to as the Mothers’ Day policy as it stresses the women’s potential for becoming mother. Most recently in 2023, Spain became the first European country to provide 3 to 5 days of menstrual leave with a 100% paid policy. Paid leaves for women during menstruation arose in Australia during the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union led by the female workers of Toyota for 12 days, as per now states Queensland and Victoria adopted the paid policy.
The history of Menstrual leave in Indian states can be traced back to the Government Girl’s School, Tripunithura in the then princely state of Cochin, Kerala, which adopted the menstrual leave policy for the first time such that the students could take leave during their period days and could write their annual exam after the same as recorded by Historian P Bhaskaranunni in his book Kerala in the 19th Century. The action was escalated with the view of the school Head Master, observing the frequent absences of female students despite having 300 days of attendance. The lack of WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) facilities along with the discomfort faced by teenage girls during menstruation days were the main reasons behind it.
On January 2nd, 1992, the Bihar government under Lalu Prasad Yadav, granted leave entitlement for female Government and Contract employees for 2 consecutive paid days/month for menstrual reasons without the need for a medical certificate. This initiative was primarily fuelled by a 32-day in 1991 involving thousands of female workers (teachers, nurses, clerks), demanding better pay, sanitation, and menstrual relief. The announcement met limited immediate publicity amid the tumult surrounding Mandal protests and other statewide issues.
Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) became the first in Kerala (and one of the earliest in India) to offer menstrual leave—granting female students 2% additional attendance credit per semester, effectively lowering the exam eligibility threshold from 75% to 73%. Once the petition was filed by Namita George (student) , extended to all state affiliated- colleges and universities for female students (2% attendance condonation per semester).
On the auspicious hour of Independence Day in 2024, the deputy CM of Odisha, Paravati Parida, proclaimed the menstrual leave Policy in India for both Government and Private Sectors in Odisha. Women both from Government and private sector, under their discretion, can apply for 12 paid days with the requirements of a medical certificate.
In the same year, Sikkim High Court became the first judicial body in India to grant menstrual leave for women in India, only with the approval from the considering menstrual health as a valid workplace concern for women.
Culture Machine (a digital media company based in Mumbai) became the first private company in India to officially introduce menstrual (period) leave in 2017. The viral video named “The First Day of Period Leave” sparked a flame nationwide. Later Zomato introduced a path-breaking initiative among the private companies in India, to provide 10 days of paid natural leave per year to women employees along with transgenders in 2020. Previously under the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishment Act, 1958, the employees of the Zomato Gurgaon office had the right to take 20 leaves and 7 sick leaves per year, but with the new implementation, women can avail of one day leave for their menstrual cycle per year. Similarly In Bangalore, according to the Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, the Zomato employees can take 20 leaves per year and 12 sick leaves with the special leave provision for women. Later Byjus in 2021 introduced the policy to offer 12 paid periods leave per year. Swiggy granted it under a no asked policy and Orient Electric (2022), L&T (March 2025) successively.
In 2022, Mr. Ninon Ering from Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly introduced the Menstrual Benefits bill in 2017, which was rejected in the name of an unclean, unwanted topic to discuss at such holy places like parliament. Again in 2022, on the 1st day of the Budget session, he proposed it and again it faced rejection withholding criticism.
It was Dr. Shashi Tharoor to try to wipe out the stigmatized notion against the menstrual leave policy and preached for the providence of Free access to sanitary napkins through the Women’s Sexual Reproductive and Menstrual Rights Bill. But this bill remained as a closed chapter in the parliament in the name of feasibility and possible lack of social acceptance.
Responses
CEO of Zomato Mr. Deepinder Goyal had said that women should avail of the 10 days leave only if they are unable to do the work and no one should misuse their leaves and use them for doing other stuff. This statement proved out to be controversial. Contrary to him a famous journalist Barkha Dutta marked the policy of Zomato as biological determinism. By criticizing the policy saying it was a stupid idea, she claimed that the periods even being painful, can be treated with Tylenol and Meftal and with a hot water bottle. Comparatively, the women associated with households had to work with such cramps and the leave policy for working women is vague in this context. Many feminist groups protested the nationwide implementation of this policy, claiming that if a woman wants leave, she can avail and if she doesn’t, she won’t. According to a few companies might disfavour hiring women of menstruating age due to potential extra leave liabilities. They argued for better health conditions instead of having a blanket leave. In December 2023, responding in the Rajya Sabha, the then Union Minister of Women & Child Development Smriti Irani labeled menstrual leave as something that might “deny equal opportunity” to women, framing menstruation as a “natural part of a woman’s life journey,” not a handicap and at present, the Government is not examining any proposal to include such leaves in the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972.
Judicial Approach & Case Laws
“Participation of women has increased in the workplace but even to this day, the discomfort and limited or no access to clean and hygienic alternatives act as roadblocks for women. It is difficult for a woman to open to their male colleagues for fear of being judged as ‘PMSing,’ and more importantly, to be able to run around at the equal pace as their male counterparts.” Pallavi Pratap, Advocate-on-Record, Supreme Court
The judiciary in India primarily relies on existing labour laws, such as the Factories Act, of 1948, the Shops and Establishments Act of various states, and the Maternity Benefit Act, of 1961, to address leave entitlements and benefits for female employees. Under the Maternity Benefit Act, women in India are entitled to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave. However, this law does not specifically address menstrual leave.
In the case of Anushree V. R. vs. Government of NCT of Delhi (2015) Delhi High Court ruled that menstrual cramps and pain can be considered a valid reason for taking leave, which can’t be discriminated. The remarkable ruling can be used to claim legally recognized menstrual leave across India.
Further, in the case of the National Human Rights Commission vs. State of Arunachal Pradesh (2017) NHRC recommended that the state government provide menstrual leave to female government employees highlighting it as a human right.
In the case of Kerala Women’s Commission vs. Cochin Devaswom Board (2018) the Kerala Women’s Commission recommended that the Cochin Devaswom Board provide menstrual leave to female employees working in temples. This consideration put forward the argument of menstrual leave in religious institution along with workplaces.
In the case of State of Bihar vs. Sanjay Kumar Singh (2016) the Supreme Court of India ruled that men can take paternity leave for taking care of their child, and that such leave should be granted on par with maternity leave. The ruling can be used to argue for the introduction of menstrual leave as a form of leave that recognizes the unique physical and emotional demands of menstruation. These legal cases demonstrate the growing recognition of the importance of menstrual health and the need for policies that support women’s reproductive health.
In January 2023, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed before the Supreme Court of India (SC), seeking that a direction be issued to all the States to frame a policy for menstrual pain leave for female students and working women under the provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961. However, the PIL has been disposed of by the Supreme Court by way of an order dated 24-2-202310, suggesting that it would be appropriate if the petitioner submits a representation to the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development which may take an appropriate decision in this regard. In July 2024 the bench with the then CJI Chandrachud with Justice Pardiwala & Mishra rejected the petition emphasizing that Mandating menstrual leave could negatively impact women’s employment, as employers might shun hiring themreiterating that it’s not its role to legislate and urged the Centre to consult stakeholders and draft a model policy.
Conclusion
Sexism and Discrimination by sex are two major criticisms that the policy faces. However, there can be institutional interference to improve the status of women in the country inclusive of their active participation with the help of affirmative action by the State, in the wider recognized perspective of Article 15(3) of the Constitution. The discourse surrounding menstrual leave in India underscores a deeper constitutional contradiction—between the aspirational ideals of the Constitution and the lived experiences of menstruating individuals. Despite constitutional protections enshrined in Article 14 (equality before law), Article 15(3) (special provisions for women), and Article 21 (right to life and dignity), and additionally, with the provision laid under Section 14 of the Maturity Benefit Act, 1961 the state remains reluctant to address menstrual health as a legitimate ground for policy intervention. This inaction not only marginalizes biological realities but also reinforces structural gender bias.
The judiciary, while sympathetic in rhetoric, has deferred responsibility to the legislature, and the legislature, in turn, remains inert. Meanwhile, women across sectors continue to navigate menstrual pain in silence—unsupported, unseen, and often penalized.
Recognizing menstrual leave is not about granting a privilege; it is about upholding a constitutional right to dignity, non-discrimination, and health. Any serious commitment to gender equity must confront and close this gap. To do otherwise is to continue failing millions of women by offering them constitutional promises without constitutional protections.
FAQs
- Is menstrual pain medically serious enough to warrant leave?
Ans- Medical experts compare severe menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea) to the pain of a heart attack. Conditions like endometriosis, fibroids, PID, and adenomyosis can intensify pain, disrupt mobility, and reduce work efficiency and hence menstrual pain is medically serious enough to warrant leave.
- Has any Indian state implemented menstrual leave policies?
Ans- Key examples include Bihar (1992): 2 paid menstrual leave days per month for government employees, Odisha (2024): 12 annual paid menstrual leaves (medical certificate required) for public and private sector, Kerala (CUSAT, 2023): 2% attendance relaxation for female students, Sikkim High Court (2024): Recognized menstrual health as a valid reason for leave.
- What are the global examples of menstrual leave policies?
Ans-Globally Japan (1947) implemented First legal menstrual leave policy. Indonesia, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan Offer similar provisions. Zambia considered Monthly “Mother’s Day” leave with no medical proof required. Spain (2023) became the first European country to offer 3–5 days of fully paid menstrual leave.
- What’s the way forward for the menstrual leave policy in India?
Ans-Legislative Action including a clear national policy framed under the Maternity Benefit Act or new standalone law, Judicial Recognition considering menstrual leave as part of health and dignity under Article 21, Corporate Leadership encouraging more private companies to follow models like Zomato, Swiggy, moreover via Social Reform by Normalizing menstruation through education, dialogue, destigmatization.
- What role does stigma play in this debate?
Ans-Cultural and religious taboos often label menstruating women as “impure”. These beliefs persist in rural and even urban areas, creating workplace shame, lack of discussion, and policy hesitation. Ironically, in places like Kamakhya Temple, menstruation is celebrated, yet national policy fails to reflect that reverence for natural biological processes.
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