Maternity Benefits And Reproductive Rights Of Working Women In India

Abstract

Maternity protection lies at the intersection of labour welfare, substantive equality, reproductive autonomy, public health, and the constitutional valuation of care. India’s Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, substantially strengthened by the 2017 amendment, promises twenty-six weeks of paid leave for many employees, protection against dismissal, nursing breaks, crèche access, and limited recognition of adoptive and commissioning motherhood. Yet the promise is institutionally uneven. Employer-financed benefits may discourage the hiring and retention of women; the threshold-based model excludes much informal and precarious work; crèche and work-from-home clauses are weakly specified; enforcement is complaint-driven; and maternity remains framed predominantly as a woman’s private responsibility rather than a social function shared by the State, employers, and all parents. This article evaluates the statutory scheme alongside the Constitution, social-security legislation, international standards, labour-market trends, and the Supreme Court’s equality and reproductive-rights jurisprudence. It gives particular attention to Municipal Corporation of Delhi v. Female Workers (Muster Roll ), Deepika Singh v. Central Administrative Tribunal, and the 2026 decision in Hamsaanandini Nanduri v. Union of India. It argues for universal, publicly pooled maternity income security; enforceable childcare standards; inclusive parental and adoption leave; protection for non-standard workers; and data-led labour inspection. Maternity protection should be reconstructed as an equality-enabling social infrastructure, not an employment cost attached to women