Menstruation is not a disease. But for some women, those days are like a disease. Those are the days when they face difficulties both physically and mentally. There is a large number of women who cannot go to study, work etc. during menstruation days. However, there is currently no provision to grant leave in the name of menstruation. In these changing times, governments have been giving priority to the problems of women and children. As a part of this, six months of maternity leave was granted with salary.

It is an old concept that leaves are granted only for illness. Private companies were the first to think away from this. About nine multinational companies operating in India such as Swiggy and Zomato give menstrual leave to women employees. However, this is yet to be implemented in the government sector. Even when the Menstruation Benefit Bill came up for discussion in Parliament, no one pointed out the issue of menstrual leave. Health experts say that the number of people seeking treatment for menstrual problems is increasing.

Doctors suggest that rest is necessary at this time. However, if a girl doesn't go to the educational institution because of this, she will lose attendance. While this continues to be a problem of mental stress for children, CUSAT in Kochi has decided to provide menstrual leave to female students for the first time in the country. CUSAT made the decision on menstrual leave after MG University granted maternity leave to its students. CUSAT's decision can be taken as a model for the entire country. 75% attendance is required to appear in the exam as per the current rule in CUSAT. With the allowance of menstruation, female students will get an exemption of two percent. Several student movements had raised this demand in writing and verbally. Earlier, students had to produce a medical certificate while taking leave during menstruation. It will no longer be needed in CUSAT.

The Higher Education Minister R Bindu's announcement that other universities in Kerala will soon follow CUSAT's lead in allowing female students to take menstrual leave is to be applauded. The minister clarified that the menstrual leave was granted in CUSAT as per the demand of the union led by SFI. However, the same demand was included in KSU's CUSAT union election manifesto. The two organizations should not get involved in a dispute between them in this regard. Both organizations should be happy that a good thing has happened. If this is implemented in all the varsities in Kerala, other states will not fail to adopt this good example. This is not a decision that should be confined to varsities alone. The central government and the state government should initiate discussions about granting such leave.