The Maharashtra administration of Eknath Shinde has proposed that all workplaces and educational institutions should have a separate ‘ladies room’ for pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The state’s urban development department released a draught notification last week, inviting opinions and complaints from stakeholders for the establishment of such “ladies room.” The administration has decided to name these chambers ‘Hirkani’ after a milkmaid who resided near the Raigad fort during the time of Maratha warrior king Shivaji in the 17th century.
“Many such workplaces have a high number of working mothers with newborns or very young children, but no dedicated space for resting, breastfeeding, or expressing breast milk.” “The state government felt it was important to change the regulations and make it mandatory for all such establishments to have a special room for such women,” a state urban development department official explained.
According to the draught notification, any structures utilised for industrial, public, semi-public, institutional, educational, or any other comparable function will be required to have a ‘ladies room’. This area will be open to all pregnant and lactating women, as well as mothers with children under the age of six.