he University Grants Commission has directed the Vice Chancellors of all universities to frame appropriate rules and norms for the issuance of maternity leave along with attendance related relaxations to female students for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
What is the maternity period?
The Cambridge dictionary defines maternity as “relating to a period during which a woman is pregnant and has a baby, and often to a period following this.”
Put simply, it refers to the duration of pregnancy and the period after it, during which a woman nurses her newborn.
Existing regulations
In a letter to Vice Chancellors, the UGC has quoted one of its provisions in UGC Regulations 2016 that reads, “the women candidate may be provided maternity leave or childcare leave once in the entire duration of MPhil and PhD for up to 240 days.”
Directions by the commission
The commission further directed Higher Education Institutions to frame appropriate rules by stating “All Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are requested to frame appropriate rules and norms with regard to granting maternity leave to the women students enrolled in their respective institutions and affiliated colleges and also provide all relaxations and exemptions relating to attendance, extension in date for submitting examination forms or any other facility deemed necessary for women students pursuing UG and PG programmes.”
Courtesy – IndiaToday