Announcing a new childcare policy, the Karnataka government said that single male government employees can now avail leave for a period of 180 days to take care of their newborn. In the official order issued on Friday, June 9, a single male parent is defined to include unmarried individuals, divorced men, and widowers.
However, reinforcing the patriarchal idea that mothers should be the primary caregivers for children, the order also says that if a single male employee marries during his childcare leave period, the leave entitlement will be automatically revoked.
Earlier in 2020, the Union government had sanctioned the inclusion of single male parents under the ambit of childcare leave. Subsequently, an order was issued stating that male government employees who are single parents, will be entitled to childcare leave. Union Minister Jitendra Singh had elaborated back then that this leave is approved to be granted at 100% of leave salary for the first 365 days and 80% of leave salary for the next 365 days.