Karnataka readies legislation to provide menstrual leave, expands scope to include students and transpersons

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A record  photograph  of an uterus, designed utilizing sanitary pads, connected  show  astatine  the 62nd All India Congress of Obstretics and Gynaecology successful  Bengaluru.

A record photograph of an uterus, designed utilizing sanitary pads, connected show astatine the 62nd All India Congress of Obstretics and Gynaecology successful Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: File photo

In the first-ever specified authorities projected successful the country, the Karnataka authorities has readied the Karnataka Women Wellbeing Leave Bill, 2025, which provides menstrual permission not lone for moving women successful the ceremonial assemblage but besides for pistillate students successful acquisition institutions, transgenders, ASHAs, anganwadi, and midday repast personnel, and those moving successful mines.

An earlier Government Order had covered the backstage sector, and past week the authorities brought its workers nether its ambit. Instead of 18 arsenic a minimum property criteria prescribed earlier, the Bill does not suggest immoderate little minimum property limit, but the precocious property bounds has been capped astatine 52 oregon till menopause.

For students

While the moving women volition get 1 time permission per month, the menstrual permission for students volition beryllium up to 2 days successful a period and consequently 2% relaxation successful the attendance for menstrual issues successful acquisition institutions.

If the worker does not chose to avail of the leave, she volition beryllium entitled for enactment from location if the installation is available. Not mandating a doctor’s certificate, the permission tin beryllium availed done a petition connected e-mail.

The projected Bill is apt to beryllium cleared successful the Cabinet connected December 11, pursuing which it volition beryllium introduced successful the legislature, sources said. This volition beryllium the astir broad authorities projected truthful acold successful the country.

When asked if the Bill was successful effect to the ongoing lawsuit successful the Karnataka High Court, sources said that the authorities was moving connected the Bill for immoderate clip now.

Among different things, the Bill proposes mounting up Karnataka Women Well Being Authority, which volition beryllium headed by the chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Women to redress grievances arising retired of complaints.

Labour serviceman successful the territory volition beryllium the enforcement officer.

Penalty clause

A punishment of upto ₹5,000 for each contravention of the proviso has been projected for those who contradict menstrual leave, sick dainty oregon discriminate against menstruating women.

Here is simply a statement of what assorted categories mean successful the Bill:

  • “Educational Institution” means immoderate primary, secondary oregon higher secondary school, inferior college/pre-university college, degree college, polytechnic, academy, university, instauration deemed to be university, grooming centre, tuition/coaching centre and includes any different instauration imparting acquisition and vocational training, whether it is Government, aided oregon unaided.
  • “Menstruating person” includes girls, women and transgender persons. 
  • “Private Establishment” means and includes a factory, a mine, a plantation, an constitution wherein persons are employed for the accumulation of equestrian, acrobatics and different performances, cinema and play theatres, a shop, a centrifugal transport, a concern doing the concern oregon commercialized oregon offering service, a company, a firm, a cooperative oregon immoderate different nine an association. A spot an agency, an institution. An organisation, a union, a hospital, a clinic, a diagnostic centre, a hotel, oregon specified different establishment, whether registered oregon not, belonging to oregon concerning 1 oregon more individuals, families, assemblage corporates, etc.
  • “Services nether the Government” see the services successful the departments of the State Government and successful the section Self- Governments. Government Corporations, Government Companies, Government Societies, Public Sector Undertakings, Statutory Boards and Authorities and the likewise placed Instrumentalities of the State. Services see permanent, casual, contract, probationary, part-time, honorary etc.
  • “Transgender person” means a idiosyncratic whose sex does not match with the sex assigned to that idiosyncratic astatine commencement and includes trans-man oregon trans-woman (whether oregon not specified person has undergone Sex Reassignment Surgery oregon hormone therapy or laser therapy oregon specified different therapy), idiosyncratic with intersex variations, genderqueer and idiosyncratic having specified socio-cultural identities arsenic kinner, hijra, aravani and jogta.

Published - December 10, 2025 12:56 p.m. IST

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