Increased Maternity Leave in India: Managing Redundancy for Women Employees

Economic dependence of women is what gives rise to their subordination in society today. Hence to remove such subordination and to lay the foundation of equality women too must be made economically independent and must take an active role in all sectors of business today. To support such initiative the Government must provide some conditions which are suitable for the needs of women. One of the most important needs of working women is Maternity Benefit. The fundamental purpose for providing maternity benefits is to preserve the self-respect for motherliness, protect the health of women, complete safety of the child etc. This paper discusses the amendment made by the federal government in the Maternity Benefits Act, 1961, to deal with the redundancy of the women employees in public sector in India.