Kathmandu, September 28
Minister for Health and Food Hygiene Nisha Mehta has said incentives through maternity leave are also being proposed to encourage population growth.
She made the statement while presenting the Safe Motherhood and Reproductive Health Rights (First Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the House of Representatives on Monday.
Presenting the bill, she said, “According to Nepal’s latest census, the country’s population growth rate has been continuously declining. Therefore, it is necessary to amend the law to introduce provisions, including leave incentives, to encourage population growth.”
Minister Mehta registered the bill in the House of Representatives on September 21.
According to the proposed bill, women working in government, non-government or private organisations would be entitled to six months of paid maternity leave before and after childbirth. It also proposes 42 days of paid paternity leave for male employees whose wives give birth.
The existing law provides mothers with 90 days of maternity leave. The bill proposes increasing it to six months, while paternity leave would be increased from 15 days to 42 days.
Mehta said the bill has also been introduced to ensure safe, quality, affordable and accessible maternal and reproductive health services and to respect, protect and fulfil women’s constitutional rights to safe motherhood and reproductive health.
The bill also includes provisions requiring childbirth services to be provided by trained birth attendants, prohibiting refusal to provide maternity services and banning violence against women during childbirth.
It also proposes additional and amended provisions concerning abortion in special circumstances, as well as provisions concerning forced abortion. The proposed amendments would classify newly added offences as criminal acts and prescribe penalties for them.
