Bengaluru: On March 12, Indian Parliament created history by increasing the paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks, which is expected to benefit around 18 lakh women. But several women industrialists themselves have raised objection to the move.

Biocon MD Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the first to oppose this new rule. Shaw has now tweeted that 14 weeks maternity leave is global average. The balance 12 weeks should be allotted to second year.

In the second tweet tagged to to Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, Shaw stated that please extend 26 weeks over 2 years or else women will be displaced from job market with unfair selection bias.

Several young women entrepreneurs have also echoed Shaw’s opinion. Simmi Sareen, a young entrepreneur has observed that it’s not just about cost and has opined that 26 weeks is too long for smaller companies with no bench, this making selection bias inevitable.

Amita Sahaya, an women activist also supported Shaw’s point and stated that the bill must be discouraged.