NEW DELHI — Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has urged the Union Government to introduce paid maternity benefits and job protection for informal sector workers, linking economic precarity in the unorganized workforce to a sharp drop in exclusive breastfeeding (EBF) rates across India.
Addressing Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda and Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi, Tharoor cited National Family Health Survey (NFHS-6) metrics to highlight a growing gap between rising institutional birth rates and post-natal infant nutritional health.
Strategic Healthcare Metrics & Policy Directives
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NFHS-6 Data Trends & Economic Pressures:
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Institutional Delivery vs. EBF Gap: Institutional deliveries reached 90.6%, yet Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) for infants under six months fell from 63.7% to 55.8%, with the steepest declines reported in rural areas and states including Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.
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Informal Workforce Exposure: Over 16 crore women working in India’s unorganized sector lack statutory paid maternity leave, forcing rapid returns to manual labor within weeks of childbirth due to financial necessity.
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Structural Constraints & Legislative Interventions:
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Clinical & Commercial Drivers: Identified the rising rate of C-section deliveries and aggressive marketing of infant milk substitutes as key structural drivers undercutting early lactation adoption.
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Policy Recommendations:
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Maternity Benefit Expansion: Extend financial support and maternity benefits to informal sector mothers to ensure financial stability through the six-month infant care window.
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Regulatory Enforcement: Enforce the Infant Milk Substitutes (IMS) Act strictly to curb commercial infant formula marketing.
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Postnatal Care Infrastructure: Expand lactation counseling services across primary and community health centers nationwide.
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