Stories
NCW Proposes Gender-Neutral Child Care Leave, 5 Lakh Creche Seats by 2030
- •The National Commission for Women (NCW) has submitted 37 recommendations to the Union government to enhance maternity and childcare protection, including gender-neutral childcare leave and 5 lakh creche seats by 2030.
- •Key proposals include transforming the existing women-centric child care leave into a gender-neutral framework, allowing 365 days each for both parents or a common pool, and extending CCL to private-sector employees.
- •The NCW recommends mandatory paid paternity leave across all sectors, including private and unorganised, and moving towards flexible shared parental leave systems.
- •To bolster childcare infrastructure, a National Childcare Infrastructure Mission is proposed to create five lakh creche seats by 2030 through Union-State cooperation, along with multiple compliance models for establishments.
- •The report also advocates for extending maternity and childcare benefits to informal, gig, and platform workers, increasing nursing breaks, and addressing workplace discrimination against women due to maternity and childcare.
Key Questions Answered
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has recommended 37 measures to the Union government, which include extending gender-neutral childcare leave to private-sector employees, introducing mandatory paid paternity leave, and creating five lakh creche seats by 2030 through Union-State cooperation.
The NCW proposes transforming the current 730-day child care leave (CCL) structure into a gender-neutral framework split equally between working parents at 365 days each, or managed via a common pool if they work in the same organization. For children aged 0-2 years, it introduces a 60:40 shared-care model between primary and secondary caregivers.
The NCW recommended extending maternity benefits to informal, gig, and platform workers through a dedicated fund and making the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) a universal entitlement. It also proposed increasing leave for adoptive and commissioning mothers from 12 to 26 weeks, and extending nursing breaks from 15 minutes to 30 minutes each.
