Sikkim chief minister Prem Singh Tamang has announced that his government will give a full year of maternity leave and a month of paternity leave to its employees. The national law on maternity leaves – the Maternity Benefit Act 1961 – already entitles women to six months, or 26 weeks, of paid maternity leave for their first two children and three months for subsequent children.

An HT analysis shows that while these provisions make Sikkim more progressive on paper than even several developed countries as far as maternity leaves are concerned there is a specific context behind the announcement and its benefits might not reach a large part of the intended beneficiaries.