Financing Maternity Rights in India – Uma Devi Judgment and the Way Forward

21 Jun 2025 GS 2 Polity
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Key Judgement:

  • Supreme Court in K Uma Devi vs State of Tamil Nadu (May 23, 2024) declared maternity rights as a Fundamental Right under Article 21 (Right to Life).

  • Recognised maternity leave as essential for job security, maternal health, and workforce inclusion.

  • Cited international conventions: UDHR, CEDAW, ILO's Maternity Convention C183 (2000), reinforcing the State's duty to ensure reproductive and social protection for women.

Legal and Policy Framework:

  • Maternity Benefit Act (MB Act), 1961 is the normative statutory framework, expanded in 2017 to:

    • Provide 26 weeks paid leave (among the highest globally)

    • Extend coverage to adoptive and commissioning mothers

    • Introduce flexible work options

  • Recognised that maternity is not a welfare measure, but a means to enable women's sustained participation in the workforce.

Challenges Identified:

  1. Limited Applicability:

    • Unclear whether the judgment extends to private sector, contractual, or informal employment.

  2. Lack of Coverage in Informal Sector:

    • Majority of Indian women work in the informal economy with no structured maternity protection.

  3. Financing Constraints:

    • While large corporates can afford maternity benefits, MSMEs and informal sector employers face challenges.

    • India lacks a public/social insurance-based maternity funding model.

Global Experience & ILO Guidance:

  • ILO advises against placing full financial burden on employers.

  • Suggests shared models: public funds, social insurance, tax-funded schemes for equitable maternity protection.

  • World Social Protection Report 2024–26: Majority of countries route funding through national social security or mixed models, not employer-only.

Recommendations for India:

  • Create a Universal Maternity Fund, aligned with ILO standards.

  • Use non-contributory social assistance and public financing mechanisms to cover informal sector and self-employed women.

  • Learn from global best practices to implement the Uma Devi judgment effectively and inclusively.

The Uma Devi judgment is landmark, but to truly empower all women, especially those in informal work, India must develop inclusive, sustainable financing structures for maternity



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