It’s time to act, period: There is no room for debate on menstrual leave

 

Much of the criticism of the menstrual leave policy is myopic. It fails to acknowledge the lasting impact such a policy could have on the overall physical and mental wellness of citizens.

On January 24, The Indian Express carried an editorial (‘Time to talk period’) laying out “both benefits and costs” of a mandatory menstrual leave policy, specifically at the workplace. Speaking to the social and economic implications of such a policy, it says, “a special period leave could become another excuse for discrimination”. In my opinion, the path to equality does not lie in inaction due to fear of further discrimination. What is needed is a holistic outlook aimed at bridging existing gaps. Much of the criticism of the menstrual leave policy is myopic. It fails to see the lasting impact such a policy could have on the overall physical and mental wellness of Indian citizens.

Period leave is often seen as “medicalising a normal biological process”. Though menstruation is a biological process, it is accompanied by cramps, nausea, back and muscle pains, headaches, etc. Additionally, these can take a debilitating form amongst menstruating people who suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis. In India, 20 per cent of menstruators (an inclusive term referring to women, trans men, and non-binary persons who menstruate) have PCOS and approximately 25 million suffer from endometriosis. The intensity of pain can vary for individuals for a variety of reasons. The bottom line is: For many menstruators, it is a biological process intertwined with medical symptoms. Mandatory period leave is an affirmative action policy that acknowledges this reality.

The adoption of voluntary “menstrual leave” policies by some companies in recent years has led to a widespread conversation on periods in India. When the Bihar government implemented a period leave policy in 1992, it was termed “special leave for women” due to the stigma attached to the word “menstruation”. The recent initiative by employers to provide period leave has been discussed and debated in the public sphere, thereby normalising the conversation around menstruation to an extent. The Kerala government’s announcement to grant menstrual leave to all female students of state universities is a welcome move that takes the discourse a step further — into educational institutions. It is also a space wherein the policy can be implemented without the criticism that it will financially burden employers. It should be replicated across universities and schools in India. This will also help reduce the drop-out rates of female students from government schools in rural India caused by the lack of clean toilets, running water, sanitary pads, etc.

The major opposition to a menstrual leave policy is the fear of bias in hiring due to the financial costs to employers. It is often equated to the decline in the labour force participation of women following the introduction of mandatory paid maternity leave. Discriminatory hiring has been a cause of concern in many countries. This has stirred up conversations that have eventually led to the implementation of equitable policies.

In many European and North American countries, mandatory paid paternity leaves, parental leave (shared by both parents), and remote/flexible working hours for parents with children under 12 years of age are provided. Additionally, some governments provide financial support to employers to help cover the costs of paying employees on maternity/parental leave. There are also stringent penalties for discrimination in the hiring/promotion of pregnant persons as well as those on maternity/parental leave.

Similar equitable solutions can be considered in the implementation of the menstrual leave policy in India. Employers should be made to introduce a mandatory “self-care leave” as an alternative to period leaves for those who cannot avail of the latter. The same logistical benefits should apply to both policies. Employees should be able to utilise their “self-care leave” as they deem fit. This will reduce burnout and increase productivity. The names “menstrual leave” and “self-care leave” will also destigmatise menstruation and self-care respectively. Further, employers should be made to implement a stringent diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) framework.

A widely accepted menstrual health framework can also ameliorate the conditions of female workers in the unorganised sector. In Maharashtra’s Beed district, contractors in the sugarcane industry do not hire anyone who menstruates. More than 10,000 female sugarcane cutters have had to surgically remove their uteri to secure work. Most of them are in their twenties and thirties, and now experience various post-surgery health complications. Such exploitation is a human rights violation. A formal menstrual leave policy in the organised sector can act as a catalyst in safeguarding menstruators in the unorganised sector too.

Menstrual health is a public health issue. Considering the sizable population of menstruators in India who face stigma, period leave cannot be dismissed anymore as a “foreign concept”. It is a pivotal step in ensuring proper reproductive health equity in India.

Written by Angellica Aribam

Source: Indian Express, 3/02/23

Who is a ‘puisne’ judge, and what does the term mean?

 

According to the dictionary, the word puisne has French origins, which means “later born” or younger.

While recommending two names for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court, the Collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said in a statement on Tuesday (January 31) that the collegium had taken into “consideration the seniority of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges…”

What does puisne mean, and who are puisne judges?

According to the dictionary, the word puisne has French origins, which means “later born” or younger. It is pronounced /’pjuːni/, like “puny”, the English word that means small or undersized.

Puisne is almost always used in the context of judges, and essentially denotes seniority of rank. The term puisne judge is used in common law countries to refer to judges who are ranked lower in seniority, i.e., any judge other than the Chief Justice of that court.

Common law is the body of law that is created by judges through their written opinions, rather than through statutes or constitutions (statutory law). Common law, which is used interchangeably with ‘case law’, is based on judicial precedent. The United Kingdom (UK) and the Commonwealth countries, including India, are common law countries.

Is a “puisne judge” in India the same as in the UK?

In the UK, puisne judges are judges other than those holding distinct titles. The Supreme Court of Judicature Act, 1877 defined a “puisne judge” as any judge of the High Court besides the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice of England, and the Master of the Rolls.

In India, all judges have the same judicial powers. As the seniormost judge of a court, the Chief Justice has an additional administrative role. In India, there is a reference to a puisne judge only while considering the order of seniority for appointments, elevations to High Courts, etc., but it does not have a bearing on the exercise of a judge’s judicial power.

What did the collegium say about puisne judges?

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court collegium recommended Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Aravind Kumar, the current Chief Justices of the Allahabad and Gujarat High Courts respectively, for appointment as judges of the Supreme Court.

While giving reasons for its recommendation, the collegium said that the decision was made taking “into consideration the seniority of Chief Justices and senior puisne Judges in their respective parent High Courts as well as the overall seniority of the High Court Judges”. This was done because seniority is one of the several criteria that are considered while making appointments to the higher judiciary. 

In the Third Judges Case ruling in 1998, one of the two cases that led to the evolution of the collegium system, the Supreme Court clarified that “The Chief Justice of India must make a recommendation to appoint a Judge of the Supreme Court and to transfer a Chief Justice or puisne Judge of a High Court in consultation with the four seniormost puisne Judges of the Supreme Court.”

Source: Indian Express, 2/02/23

Budget’s ‘Digital India’ push: Digital library for students to digitalising ancient inscriptions

 

The government’s new proposals for digitisation in India include establishing centres of excellence for AI, rolling out the third phase of the E-Courts project and much more.

The Union Budget speech by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday highlighted the government’s continuous efforts to push for digitisation in the country.

From building a digital library for children and adolescents to formulating a National Data Governance policy, the minister announced a wide range of schemes and proposals during her address. Here are the key highlights:

Digital Public Infrastructure for Agriculture: It will be an open source, open standard and interoperable public good. The platform will offer inclusive, farmer-centric solutions through relevant information services for crop planning and health, improved access to farm inputs, credit, and insurance, help for crop estimation, market intelligence, and support for the growth of the agri-tech industry and start-ups.

National Digital Library for Children and Adolescents: This will be established for facilitating the availability of quality books in different languages, genres and at different levels. The government will also try to inculcate a culture of reading by collaborating with NGOs, which will provide age-appropriate reading material to everyone. The National Book Trust and Children’s Book Trust will also step in. Sitharaman said the library would be “device-agnostic”.

Centres of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence: There is a proposal for setting up three centres of excellence for Artificial Intelligence in top educational institutions. These centres, in partnership with leading players in the industry, will conduct interdisciplinary research and develop cutting-edge applications and scalable problem solutions in the areas of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities.

National Data Governance Policy: Government will formulate a data governance policy to enable access to anonymised data for innovation and research by start-ups and academia.

5G Services: A hundred labs will be established in engineering institutions for developing applications using 5G services to realise a new range of opportunities, business models, and employment potential.

E-Courts: Government will roll out phase three of the E-Courts project to ensure the efficient administration of justice.

Bharat Shared Repository of Inscriptions (Bharat SHRI): A digital epigraphy museum will be established and one lakh ancient inscriptions will be digitised in the first stage.

Skill India Digital Platform: The digital ecosystem for skilling will be further expanded by launching a unified Skill India Digital platform for enabling demand-based formal skilling, linking with employers including MSMEs and facilitating access to entrepreneurship schemes.

Source: Indian Express, 2/02/23

Quote of the Day February 1, 2023

 

“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
Elie Wiesel, writer, Nobel laureate

“ऐसा वक़्त आ सकता है जब हम अन्याय को रोकने में असमर्थ हों, लेकिन ऐसा वक़्त कभी नहीं आना चाहिए जब हम विरोध करने में नाकाम रहें।”
एलि विसेल, लेखक, नोबल पुरस्कार विजेता

Getting future-ready: Here's how to prepare today for tomorrow’s jobs

 What would you do if you were told that the skillsets you possess today would become obsolete 10 years from now? And that the job you are doing would no longer exist? For most of us, it would mean taking a close look at our present capabilities, finding ways to augment them and adapting ourselves to a different sort of workplace so we still fit in. Whether you choose to augment your current skills (upskilling) or retrain in a totally different area (reskilling) you would be joining millions of people worldwide in getting ready for the future stages of your working life.

Emergence of emotional labour
The skills of the future may be ill-defined, but we know that they will employ cognitive and emotional labour. Workers originally contributed physical labour to employers, which consisted of the ability to move and manipulate objects and depended largely on muscular strength and dexterity. In the last few decades, we have seen the growth of cognitive labour, founded on the bedrock of cognitive capacity, memory, which is manifested as the ability to memorise and recall knowledge and information. This progresses to include analysis of information, optimisation and decision making, critical thinking, and ultimately creativity. Finally, we are seeing the emergence of emotional labour which is the deployment of skills and capabilities such as awareness, self-motivation, empathy and relationship-building, all coupled with a sense of purpose and meaning, and behaving ethically.

Demands of job market
The growth of cognitive and emotional labour, within a job market that is seeing the rise of some sectors and the shrinking of others, means that the demands of the job market are continually changing. In India, for example, the digital revolution that has taken place across all industrial sectors means that the jobs of today are radically different to those of just a few years ago, and the jobs of tomorrow will be different again. According to data analysed by Monster.com, the next five years will see half of the workforce in India needing to retrain and upskill.

Upskilling benefits
There are several advantages to upskilling. For employees, developing new skills can help you stay relevant and improve employability – an example could be an e-commerce company training its developers in the use of AI that can be used to track consumer buying patterns. Other advantages of upskilling include the potential discovery of new passions and interests which could lead to new career possibilities. It could give you the chance to meet people, expand your professional network, and offer a fresh perspective. Reskilling can sometimes be a good way to re-enter the workforce after a very long break, or even to switch careers. Personally, I used the pandemic, when I was stuck at home and could not travel, to qualify as a management accountant; I expect this to be useful in the non-executive roles that I expect to hold in the future when my career in education eventually comes to an end.

The advantages don’t stop with just employees though. Equally, for employers, investing in upskilling or reskilling your employees can benefit you in several ways. Talent acquisition is time-consuming, and as an employer, it is far simpler to retain existing employees by upskilling them for a changing environment than it is to hire new talent. Another reason is driving employee satisfaction – some studies have shown that 91% of Gen Z employees (born 1990-1999) factor in professional training opportunities when choosing an employer. With upskilling, some employees may be able to step up and play more leadership-oriented roles.

If you wish to take charge of your own development to stay employable, there are several ways to do this.

Enhancing employability
The most common is to take on an additional project at work, something that is completely outside of your regular job. These stretch opportunities are a great way to learn more about a different line of work and are a very effective way to upskill (provided, of course, that you are not neglecting your main role). Another way is by allocating some time each week to follow industry leaders and experts. There is a rich repository of professional literature available online on LinkedIn, TED Talks, podcasts and more. Joining an industry or professional association could also help, as they often have workshops and discussions that can offer insights. Volunteering for a charity can help to gain experience that you may not get at work – charities and not-for-profits need much more than fundraising – you could be helping with finance, for example, or people, or operations.

Finally, an additional degree or a specialist course can build on your current skills to boost your job role or position you as a knowledge leader in your existing industry. Several higher education institutes today have degrees that offer flexible study and are ideal for working professionals. At Heriot-Watt University Dubai for example, we have significant experience in delivering postgraduate education and many of our students are from India. We find they choose our courses for the flexibility and pace of study they offer, the accreditations, the world-class faculty who teach them and the work placements they get in the Middle East once they graduate. Our programmes allow them to focus on building a specific need or skillset – professionals can enrol in any of the vast numbers of subjects that we offer across our programmes whilst learning through real-life experiences and local as well as global best practices. UAE student visas also now permit employment.

We offer all our students and all our staff members the chance to develop a statement describing their purpose, and the impact that they want to have on the world. That’s a useful starting place if you don’t know how to plan your future career or what skills to try and develop next. Purpose-led people – and companies – are shown to have greater resilience and flexibility, useful in today’s ever-changing employment marketplace. Whatever the jobs of tomorrow look like.

Source: educationtimes.com, 10/01/23

Current Affairs- January 29, 2023.

 

INDIA

• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launches Ladli Bahina Scheme.
• President Droupadi Murmu to grace opening of Gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan in Udyan Utsav 2023.
• Indian Air Force orders inquiry to find the cause of accident of two fighter planes at Morena
• Two-day inception meeting of Startup-20 begins in Hyderabad.
• Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) signs MoU to make Rolls-Royce marine engines
• Delhi government to introduce 1,500 e-scooters at 250 locations in the next one year.

ECONOMY

• Aadhaar e-KYC transactions jump 18.53 percent to 84.8 crores between October to December 2022.
• Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) starts exports of aviation gasoline, which is used to operate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and small planes.

WORLD

• President of 77th Session of UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi to be on a visit to India.
• Flood emergency continues in New Zealand’s north island
• WHO releases latest assessment of omicron variant

SPORTS

• World Boxing Champion Nikhat Zareen to represent mining PSU NMDC as its brand ambassador.
• Khelo India Youth Games to commence on 30th January in Madhya Pradesh.
• Australian Open 2023: Aryna Sabalenka beats Elena Rybakina to secure title

Current Affairs-January 30, 2023

 

INDIA

• Odisha’s Health Minister Naba Kishore Das died after being shot by a policeman.
• Patiala Military Literature Festival concludes
• New plateau found by ARI team in Thane, Maharashtra could hold clues to plant survival.
• First G20 International Financial Architecture Working Group meeting begins in Chandigarh.
• Nation observes Mahatma Gandhi’s 74th death anniversary on January 30.

ECONOMY

• Google blocked 50,000 pieces of content shared by pro-China accounts last year across various platforms.
• Tata Trusts are setting up endowment funding entities on the lines of the US-based Burroughs Wellcome Fund.
• NSE emerges as the World’s Largest Derivatives Bourse for 4^th year in a row.
• High Street Rentals in Top 8 Cities rise up to 50% in 2022.

WORLD

• Google researchers create AI that can generate minutes-long musical pieces from text.
• British PM sacks Conservative Party Chairman Nadhim Zahawi from government over his tax affairs
• Pakistan federal government announces an increase in prices of petrol and diesel by 35 rupees.

SPORTS

• India claimed its maiden ICC title in women’s cricket as it lifted the inaugural U-19 World Cup.
• Germany beat Belgium 5-4 in penalty shootout to win FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar.
• Tech-driven sports company SFA signs a five-year sponsorship deal with Sports Authority of India (SAI) for Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG)