Menstrual Hygiene Day: Woman From Odisha’s Sambalpur Launches Online Campaign For Paid Period Leave

Sambalpur: Ranjeeta Priyadarshini from Sambalpur district in Odisha has launched an online campaign, urging Union Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav to provide paid leave to all women employees of government and private organisations during periods.

The campaign comes as the world observes Menstrual Hygiene Day on Saturday. She launched her campaign on Wednesday.

“Women constitute nearly a third of the workforce in India. Discomfort from having to work while menstruating remains underreported. Women employees put up with suffering during periods while at work as they cannot avail leave, due to lack of access to proper toilets and restrooms,” she told a news portal.

“I launched the online campaign ‘SIGN my petition’ urging the Unioin Labour Ministry to implement a no-questions-asked, paid monthly period leave for all women workers in the country,” she said.

“If widely introduced, women, transgenders and non-binary workers who menstruate stand to gain direct pathways to rest when they need it most, be happier and more productive at work as a result and find it easier to remain in the labour market. There should be no shame or stigma attached to requesting a period leave,” she said.

Ranjeeta works in the heavy metal industry.