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The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday, July 28, directed the Tamil Nadu government to file an interim report on the formation of a committee and the progress made in framing rules for a comprehensive paid menstrual leave policy for women employees in government services, along with suitable advisory guidelines for private establishments.
A Division Bench of Justices CV Karthikeyan and R Sakthivel issued the direction while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by M Narmatha of Madurai, seeking a direction to the State to introduce a paid menstrual leave policy for women employees in government departments and frame advisory guidelines for the private sector.
During the hearing, the State submitted that the government was actively considering the constitution of a committee to frame the policy in accordance with the labour codes introduced by the Union government.
Taking note of the submission, the Bench directed the government to place an interim report before the court detailing the formation of the committee and the progress made in preparing the policy framework.
The court also observed that any such policy would require not only implementation across government departments but also the sensitisation of private establishments to the need for providing menstrual leave to women employees.
In her petition, Narmatha contended that the absence of a menstrual leave policy results in indirect discrimination against women employees and violates their right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.
She argued that women are often compelled to continue working despite severe menstrual pain or suffer wage loss, unlike their male counterparts.
She further submitted that the existing leave framework, including casual leave and sick leave, is inadequate to address a recurring biological condition such as dysmenorrhoea. As a result, women are forced to exhaust their leave entitlement every month or lose wages, adversely affecting their service conditions.
The petitioner also argued that the absence of a dedicated policy disproportionately affects lakhs of women employed in government departments, anganwadis and schools, many of whom do not have access to rest facilities or flexible work arrangements.
She added that women employed in private establishments face similar challenges.
The matter has been posted for further hearing on August 24.