Writ petition seeks govt. policy on paternity leave

Court Correspondent :
A writ petition was filed with the High Court on Wednesday seeking its directive on the government to formulate a paternity leave policy for the employees at all institutions of the country.

Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan submitted the petition as a public interest litigation, in which her six-month old child Nubaid Bin Sadi’s name has been included as a petitioner too, saying that the absence of paternity leave made it extremely difficult for new fathers to take care of their wives and newborns.

There are provisions for paternity leaves in more than 78 countries including our neighbouring India, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka according to an International Labour Organization (ILO) report, she said in the petition.

The lawyer also said that the notion that only mothers will take care of newborn has changed with change of times.

The involvement of both parents are required now especially in a busy city like Dhaka where help from other family members are limited.

Besides, the rate of cesarean birth is very high in the country, the petitioner said in the petition, adding that it takes time for a mother to recover after the procedure.