Chief Minister Siddaramaiah called the decision a step towards "a more humane, understanding, and inclusive workplace."
Published Oct 09, 2025 | 8:04 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 09, 2025 | 8:04 PM
A similar demand was made by the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union in December 2024.
Synopsis: Karnataka has approved the Menstrual Leave Policy, 2025, granting all women employees one day of paid leave per month, totalling twelve days annually across government offices, the IT industry, and private companies. The policy, first proposed in 2024 and revised by the Labour Department, aims to support women’s health and workplace wellbeing and is applicable to women up to the age of fifty-five.
The Karnataka Cabinet has approved the Menstrual Leave Policy, 2025, which provides one day of paid leave every month to women working across all sectors, including government offices, the IT industry, and private companies in the state.
The policy was discussed during a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday, 9 October. The proposal, first mooted in 2024, provided for six days of paid menstrual leave annually for working women, but the Labour Department later revised it to one day per month.
“It is the most progressive new law that we have brought. Women can take as many as 12 sanctioned leaves in a year, once a month or all at once, whatever they choose as per their menstrual cycle,” Labour Minister Santosh Lad said, speaking to reporters after the cabinet meeting.
“It is a feather in the cap of a progressive government which thinks for the welfare of women and considers the roles she has to play.”
Siddaramaiah called the decision a step towards “a more humane, understanding, and inclusive workplace.”
“Our government stands committed to dignity and wellbeing at work,” he said in a post on X.
Earlier, the Labour Department of Karnataka sought the opinion of the state’s Department of Women and Child Development on providing menstrual leave for women workers in garment industries, private companies, and MNCs.
In response, the department highlighted the growing prominence of women across economic sectors.
“In recent times, women are working in various jobs and becoming economically independent, along with contributing to the economic progress of the country. Women of different age groups are getting good education, are working in MNCs. Other women are working locally in the unorganised sector, small enterprises, and garment industries,” it said.
The department also acknowledged that menstruating women face physical demands, with some experiencing extreme pain due to conditions like dysmenorrhea.
“In such cases, working women face severe difficulties in travelling to and from work and performing work duties as well,” it noted.
Hence, the WCD considered it appropriate to provide one day of paid leave per month during the menstrual cycle for women up to the age of 55 years. The leave will be monitored separately, the department added.
The policy follows the Karnataka government’s 2024 decision to set up an 18-member committee, headed by Sapna Mohan, Associate Dean at the School of Law, Christ University, to study and recommend the feasibility of implementing such a policy across all sectors in the state.
The committee recommended one day of menstrual leave a month and also called for the state legislature to pass The Right of Women to Menstrual Leave and Free Access to Menstrual Health Products Bill.
A similar demand was made by the Karnataka State IT/ITeS Employees Union (KITU) in December 2024. The union, in a memorandum to the state Labour Commissioner, urged the government to introduce a 12-day annual menstrual leave policy for all women employees.
Government officials stated that Karnataka is the only state to provide 12 paid leaves a year to women across all sectors as part of its menstrual leave policy.
While Kerala provides menstrual leave of two days for female students in Industrial Training Institutes, Bihar extends these leaves to government employees, including contract workers. Odisha also provides one paid leave per month for women employees working in government jobs.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
