More than three decades after the Indian state of Bihar announced paid menstrual leave for women employees, Spain has become the first European nation to implement the policy. On the question of applying the policy across India, the Supreme Court has left it to the Indian government as a policy matter. Amidst the debate about the move that can increase participation of women in the workforce, vide-sharing platform Chingari has announced a period leave for women.
Prioritising women content creators
In line with its campaign for women's health and wellness, the Indian social media firm is providing two days paid leave for mentruation every month. Apart from this, Chingari also offers training and educational sessions for female content creators for upskilling. In its day to day operations, Chingari enables housewives in smaller Indian cities to earn an income by producing and uploading content.
Indian firms and states already moving ahead
But Chingari isn't the first, other new age digital startups such as Zomato, Swiggy, Culture Machine, Byju's and Matrubhumi, already have a menstrual leave policy in place. As for the government, only Bihar and Kerala have paid period leave for women in the workforce.
Beyond India, even in major economies such as the US, most firms don't offer menstrual leave, due to the absence of a federal regulation requiring the same.
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