Dear friends,

In just a few days, we will know the outcomes of the Lok Sabha elections. By now, it is clear that none of the major political parties have included our ask for more generous and legally mandated #PaternityLeave in their Election Manifestos. But that does not mean that we will give up so easily. It is time to update our request and directly ask for a legal change – regardless of which government comes to power!

I will be modifying this petition to reflect this slightly refocused and refined ask tomorrow. The new ask will simply be to “Introduce Paid Paternity Leave for Working Fathers in India”.

I wanted to reach out to all of you today, for a few reasons:

1. First of all, I would like to thank you SO much for showing your support by signing this original petition!
2. I wanted to give you an opportunity to share your thoughts with me on the revision I am planning – you may email me at aarti.catalyst@gmail.com or respond to this update on the change.org platform itself.
3. I would like to share that along with this online petition, I am also working - with a number of concerned others - to arm myself with the right data and evidence, to create a strong business case for our ask, which we will then present to the Decision Makers at the right time. Among the activities I am planning are a survey, an in-person event such as a roundtable or seminar on the topic and media outreach. I will keep you posted about these.

I am very positive that our voices will be heard soon. In fact, the urgency around better and more equal parental leave provisions is being felt around the world. In the last few weeks, organizations such as HPE and Novartis have announced their global 6 months’ parental leave policy - for all parents! There are examples from other countries on how paternity benefits have changed their society and economy! India will not be far behind - as long as all of you support this campaign!

Thank you again, and stay in touch!
Aarti Shyamsunder