In a society where speaking about menstruation is considered a taboo, two firms in India recently made headlines for allowing female employees to take leave on the first day of the period. Now, All Kerala Self-Financing Schools Federation (AKSFSF) has followed in the footsteps.
Read more: After Culture Machine, Mathrubhumi offers 'first day of period' leave for women staff
AKSFSF president Ramdas Kathiroor said the new leave policy was implemented in as many as 4,000 private schools across the state from August 1 and almost one lakh female teachers will be covered under the policy. Teachers are allowed to take leave on any day during menstruation.
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In another groundbreaking decision, the teachers association took a cue from Kochi Metro Rail Limited-- which employed 23 transgenders-- and decided to recruit the third gender in the private schools.
Mediahouse Mathrubhumi blazed the trail in the period leave policy. Women suffer a slew of discomfort including nausea, cramps, headaches and mood swings during 'those days'. "We took the decision not because any employee asked for it, but felt that it should be granted," the company's joint managing director MV Shreyas Kumar had earlier said.
Check 5 reasons why 'first day of period' leave is important for both women, company
However, the concept of the first day of period leave was initially introduced in India by a Mumbai-based digital company Culture Machine. The employees of the company have also started an online petition addressing Maneka Gandhi, Minister for Women and Child Development and Prakash Javadekar, Minister of Human Resource Development, requesting them to implement a similar leave policy across the country.
