PRAYAGRAJ, Oct. 4 -- In a major relief to women educators, the Uttar Pradesh government has announced six months (180 days) of paid maternity leave for contractual Sanskrit teachers working in government-aided Sanskrit colleges and secondary schools across the state. Introduced during Navratri, the decision has been welcomed as a festive gift for hundreds of female teachers who had earlier been denied this benefit.

The decision, taken after a gap of four years, will benefit over 1,000 contractual teachers currently working in 403 government-aided Sanskrit colleges and 570 secondary Sanskrit schools in the state.

Until now, these teachers were entitled only to 10 days of casual leave per year, with no provision for maternity or other lon...