What’s Indian Women’s Response To Smriti Irani Opposing Paid Period Leave For Women?

The topic of a paid period leave for women in the workplace has been a very debated one for quite a few years. While some believe it is crucial to provide it to women, some believe it would be against feminism and treating women as less than men.

ISmriti Irani, the Union Cabinet Minister and BJP leader has recently come under the scanner for her remarks she made on potential paid period leave for working women in India.

What Did Smriti Irani Say?

Union Women and Child Development (WCD) minister Smriti Irani was speaking in Rajya Sabha today and responding to a question about the state of menstrual hygiene policy in the country.

The question was posed by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) member in the upper house Manoj Kumar Jha and Irani stated how there didn’t need to be a separate policy for ‘paid period leaves.’

She said “As a menstruating woman, menstruation and the menstruation cycle is not a handicap, it’s a natural part of women’s life journey…We should not propose issues where women are denied equal opportunities just because somebody who does not menstruate has a particular viewpoint towards menstruation.”

This is not the first time Irani has opposed a period leave for women, since last week in the Lok Sabha she said “no proposal under the consideration of the government to make provision for paid menstrual leave mandatory for all workplaces” when Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked a question related to it.

Read More: Breakfast Babble: Why I Feel It’s Important To Make Period Products Free

How Did Indian Women React?

Smriti Irani’s words were not received well by the Indian women who condemned her words and said she was not being inclusive of all.

They reacted sharply as they felt that the minister did not fully understand the struggles of regular women whose pain and suffering has often been overlooked by society as they are expected to go on with their day regardless.

Let us know in the comments which way you lean. Was Irani correct in her statement or the reaction of the Indian women justified?

Image Credits: Google Images

Feature image designed by Saudamini Seth

Sources: Hindustan Times, Livemint, The Economic Times

Find the blogger: @chirali_08

This post is tagged under: Smriti Irani, Smriti Irani periods, Smriti Irani period leave, Leaves For Periods, Paid Leaves, paid leaves for periods, period leaves, period offs, working women, paid period leave, period leave india, period leave policy india, Period Leaves Female Employees, period leaves india

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