Refining bill for paternity leave: Maneka Gandhi

She also denied having said “paternity leave will be just a holiday” in an interview to a national daily. “I didn’t actually say that. I said men already have sick leave. They need to use that when they have babies and then we will proceed on that,” Gandhi said. “I look forward to a time when there will be a joint responsibility by both parents. It is an ideal situation and we are working towards that. The first step in the pursuit of giving care to a new born child is the Maternity Bill and maybe the next step will be more sophisticated,” she said. Maternity Benefit Bill 2016 was passed in the Rajya Sabha earlier this month and is likely to be taken up in the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session. The bill proposes to extend maternity leave from the current 12 weeks to 26 weeks but has no mention for leave for fathers.