Karnataka recently became the first Indian state to offer paid menstrual leave to all working women in government and private jobs.
Published Nov 21, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Nov 21, 2025 | 9:00 AM
Karnataka's period leave policy.
Synopsis: Karnataka has brought in a policy, granting women in all sectors a menstrual leave per month. However, women in the unorganised sector and those who do not fall under the Acts under which the policy has been drawn up, have to bear the pain and inconvenience and carry on with their assigned duties. Domestic helps, ASHAs, anganwadi and gig workers fall under this group.
A multitude of women are outside the ambit of the Karnataka government’s much-lauded menstrual leave policy.
Karnataka recently became the first Indian state to offer paid menstrual leave to all working women in government and private jobs.
The policy covers women in the formal sector, between the age group of 18 and 52, employed in all industries and establishments registered under the Factories Act, 1948, Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961, Garden Workers Act, 1951, Beedi and Cigar Workers (Employment and Conditions) Act, 1966, and Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961.
However, it excludes a much larger section of women, engaged as domestic workers, daily-wage labourers, and gig workers in the unorganised sector.
According to a 2018 International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, around 82 percent of working women in India work in the informal sector, including as domestic work, waste picking, construction, and street vending, among others.
As of 3 March 2025, over 30.68 crore unorganised workers have already registered on the e-Shram portal, with more than half of them being female (53.68 percent).
Manjula, an anganwadi worker in Bengaluru, is among those women who do not count — even as an afterthought — in the government’s policy.
She lives with irregular periods. Like many other Indian women, she had not sought medical help; her menstrual cycle brings with it intense pain and heavy bleeding. Yet, a menstrual leave remains a dream for her, and many others like Manjula, excluded from the new policy, as anganwadi workers are often classified as “honorary workers” rather than formal employees.
“The Karnataka government could have gone all out and made menstrual leave policy applicable to women in all sectors, including the unorganised sector, as they are the ones in the field, doing work all day. It cannot be called a policy gap but a deliberate structural exclusion,” a women’s rights activist, Brinda Adige, said.
Nanjamma, a domestic worker in a gated community in Bengaluru, said the households she works for rarely allow leave during her menstrual cycle.
“They assume I am making excuses. If I stay home, they cut my salary. But on some days, the pain is so bad that I simply cannot work, and hence I have no choice,” she told South First. She works over nine hours a day, in at least four houses in the same gated community.
The Karnataka government introduced the draft of the Karnataka Domestic Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2025, last month, which provides for the constitution of the Karnataka State Domestic Workers Social Security and Welfare Board.
The state government, in consultation with the Board, may provide for one full-day holiday or a staggered half-day holiday twice a week. However, it doesn’t specifically mention menstrual leave.
While this Bill exists, domestic workers, along with anganwadi workers and ASHAs, remain outside comprehensive labour protections.
ASHAs and anganwadi workers, who are recruited directly by the government under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and the National Health Mission (NHM), respectively, perform critical tasks including maternal and child health monitoring, vaccination, early childhood education, community mobilisation, and spreading health-related awareness. They are also tasked with carrying out essential state-level door-to-door surveys.
They do not come under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, or the Industrial Disputes Act, or any other Act mentioned in the government order for the menstrual leave policy. ASHAs are also recruited on short-term contracts, usually under a year, which further prevents them from being recognised as formal workers under these Acts.
“We have been fighting this battle for years, for the simple right to be recognised as permanent workers,” said S Varalakshmi, President of the Karnataka State Anganwadi Workers’ Union. “Because we are not recognised, we lose access to crucial welfare benefits.”
ASHAs, too, have held sporadic protests across Karnataka for over a decade, demanding formal worker status and the security of permanent employment benefits.
Varalakshmi said that the government should instead issue separate GOs mandating menstrual leave for every woman working with the Department of Education and the Women and Child Department. This way, the policy could cover them.
Another section of women excluded from the policy is the gig workers, who are covered under the Central government’s Code on Social Security, 2020.
Jaya, one such gig worker who works as a beautician in Bengaluru, said a recent company rule required workers to complete 50 jobs to make up for a single cancellation.
“This has become a nightmare for women who might have health emergencies. Even during periods, we are afraid to take leave because our ratings might drop, and that leads to our IDs being blocked,” Jaya told South First.
Some gig platforms, including Swiggy and Zomato, have introduced menstrual leave policies — two paid days per month at Swiggy and 10 days annually at Zomato. But this remains the exception rather than the norm.
When asked if a government-ordered menstrual leave would help her, Jaya said, “If taking leave for my health means my ratings drop or my ID gets blocked, then it is not really a benefit. A policy is only helpful if it protects us from punishment.”
Gender experts and activists also point out that the lack of accessible, clean and safe toilets for women working in the unorganised sector worsens both their menstrual and overall health.
“Not only do they lack toilets, but they (domestic workers) are often not allowed to use the toilets they clean in households. There are no rest spaces either,” Adige said. Employers in residential apartments provide no healthcare support, she added.
ASHAs and anganwadi workers deployed for the socio-economic and educational survey often travelled two to three hours between assigned households for door-to-door enumeration.
“When citizens question the survey and are often rude to us, we knew they would not let us use the washroom in their house,” an ASHA said. She used to wait until she reached home after enumeration every day, which was after eight hours.
Adige further said that the deliberate structural exclusion of women from the unorganised sector in the menstrual leave policy only goes on to show the “classist mentality” of the elected representatives.
However, activists and experts acknowledged that Karnataka is the only state to extend the ambit of the leave to women working in both government and private sectors.
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.
In July 2024, the Supreme Court suggested that the Union government should develop a model policy on menstrual leave after consulting with states and stakeholders. However, it stopped short of making it mandatory. Even this judgement did not make any mention of women from the unorganised sector.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
