Privilege

It really does take a village to raise a child and Rehan Khan , 35, Will Tell you it doesn't get easier or less chaotic with time or experience.

A marketing manager based in the southern Indian City of Bangalore, Mr Khan welcomed his third child during the lockdown in 2020.

This Time , his parenting experience was markedly different. The tech company he works with had increased Paternity Leave from one to three weeks. His wife, a contract worker for a US-based tech company, was able to take 15 weeks of leave.

The First month was tough, Mr Khan said, as sleep patterns changed and The Baby needed constant attention.

" My Wife would be with The Baby until 03:30 And Then I would take over. Carry him around, play with him, rock him, " He Said .

But it helped that both he and his wife worked from home, his parents stayed with them to help and they were financially well off enough to move into a bigger apartment.

Mr Khan called The Experience " blissful" but was quick to point out that stories like his were rare And One of Privilege - as few Indian companies worked around a couple's childcare needs.

" I Am very lucky to have a manager who's not an Indian, and his boss is American. It makes a difference because they are much more sensitive about this, " He Said .

India's federal and most state governments allow married male employees to take a fortnight's leave at The Time of, or within six months after, The Birth of a child.

In Comparison , Indian women working in state-run and private companies are entitled to 26 weeks of paid leave, one of the longest in The World . But there is still no nationwide policy for Paternity Leave .

Some private companies have begun to offer Paternity Leave for fathers, adoptive parents and LGBT couples. Tech companies give a decent amount of Paternity Leave to help them recruit and retain talent. Drinks giant Diageo allows all eligible employees a 26-week Parental Leave irrespective of gender or sexual orientation.

Last month India-born Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal 's announcement that he would take a few weeks off after The Birth of his Second Child had Indians talking about Paternity Leave . Indian tech companies and start-ups that offered generous leaves highlighted their policies.

In India, joint Families - where multiple generations form one household - have played a significant part in childcare. But this is slowly changing with more children being born in nuclear Families .

Himanshu Dhanda, a federal government worker, said a cultural shift was visible in his current workplace where senior male colleagues called him " lucky" for being able to take leave for his child's birth which they said wasn't available in their time.

Mr Dhanda's father, a retired government employee, had been mocked for trying to take Paternity Leave three decades ago. " He told me his colleagues said, 'It's The Mother who'll feed The Child . What is your work there?'" Mr Dhanda recounted. His father was able to take just Seven Days .

Mr Dhanda said that a month of paid leave for fathers would help a lot. " Especially with people like us who have no experience, it is very challenging. A lot of unexpected things happen. You are just running around figuring things out like The Baby 's sleep, The Mother 's physical and emotional health, " He Said .

Sreeparna Chattopadhyay, an associate professor of sociology at Pune's Flame University , believes India should have a statutory shared Parental Leave policy, similar to Sweden's, which would be completely inclusive and not limited to biological parents.

" If you don't have something enshrined in a statutory way, then there is really no obligation to carry it out, right? And [with its current policy] The State is signalling in some way that they care about the fact that parenting is a shared responsibility, " She Said .

Source of news: bbc.com