India, Aug. 19 -- The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday announced that women employees will be entitled to 365 days of maternity leave for the birth of their third child, extending the current benefit of 12 weeks.

The move brings maternity leave for the third child on par with the 365 days currently available to eligible women government employees for their first two children.

At present, married women government employees with fewer than two surviving children are entitled to 365 days of maternity leave, while those with two or more surviving children can avail themselves of up to 12 weeks of leave.

During the demand for grants for his department in the state Assembly, Minister for Human Resources Management D Sarathkumar said the gove...