Indian Legal System vs. the People: Should the law change or should we?

Source – timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Women advocates have chanted ‘hooray!’ like a mantra when maternity leave duration was extended, ranking India at the top of the list with developed countries, surpassing many of them. While women were galloping away in merriment, many entrepreneurs and human resource departments worked hard and fast on cost-calculations, devising plans to avert legal recourse after firing a pregnant woman. The psychological effect of firing an expectant mother is that she associates having a child as a disregard to her occupation. On the other hand the Supreme Court of India ruled to not allow a 10 year old girl an abortion. The psychological effect on this child will be that her childhood is snatched away. At a time when she is supposed to discover herself she has to dedicate her life to another child, a child taking care of a child. Are people correct in sidelining pregnant women for economic reasons and disrespecting the law of the land, or are law makers correct in taking a decision based on rigid rules and dictums? Which one has to change?

A woman was fired on a false pretense when her pregnancy was revealed in the office, apparently many people aren’t aware of the fact that it is more cost-effective to retain an employee than to find another. Women have their strengths in employment that a man cannot replicate which includes the key emotional aptitude of empathy. On a long-term range to retain an expectant mother is much more economical. To know more look at my previous blog: Maternity leave will uplift the economy. Female employees in corporates are staggeringly low, men are generally at top managerial and administrative posts and prefer hiring men! It’s a vicious cycle debilitating women!

The short-sightedness with which every penny of paid leave was calculated by her employers comparative to the number of hours that will not be logged in, to justify pregnancy as an excusable argument of termination of employment is deplorable. The book Womenomics introduces the concept of getting work done on time, getting paid the right amount, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Yes, women play the role of mother, sister and wife. Yes, a woman is the primary caregiver in the Indian society, the household tends to rest on her already heavy shoulders. Shouldn’t these offices realize that the woman that they plan to fire, is equivalent to the women who are running their own households? Is it too much to ask for moral introspection which makes corporate houses realize the tremendous workload on a working woman and accommodate to her hectic schedule? To top it all, the blatant disregard for the law created by the advocacy of millions of women, billions globally, to have paid leave is scrapped by individuals who believe that women will remain silent. I applaud the courage of the expectant mother to highlight this case in the media, and take her employers to court. I applaud her for being a pioneer and stepping out of the shadows of male dictum, I applaud her for taking a risk on her career and carving a way for many other women who are silently accepting this unfortunate cruelty.

On the other hand the Supreme Court didn’t allow a child to have an abortion, as the term of pregnancy exceeded the legal term allowed by the law. The Supreme Court of India took away the right of a child to choose what happens to her body, and has carved a future for her which she has not chosen or dreamt of. If it is illegal to terminate pregnancy after a certain few weeks, child pregnancy should also be made illegal. Nothing makes this 10 year old a fit vessel to birth a child, or to sustain either one’s life.

India is a democracy which is made for the people with a major consensus of the people, our law is based on virtues that promote democracy. Yet ground reality is far from the grandiose picture of our nation envisioned by the nation’s founding fathers. Stuck between crossroads of a future influenced heavily by western influences, and a growing understanding of morality on a global scale, our legal system and its users are stuck in a dilemma.
The necessity is to ask ourselves – are you going to stand by in silence?