The Telegraph, a UK Daily, has announced fully paid parental leave for men and women alike. The organisation now provides a six-month paid parental leave to mothers and fathers. It is a welcome move by the organisation in a step towards gender equality and making the point that both the mother as well as the father share equal responsibilities when it comes to taking care of their newborn baby.

Informing the move by the organisation, Lauren Davidson, Personal Finance Editor at The Telegraph, tweeted, "Really proud today to work at the Telegraph, which has just announced that all new parents, dads included, will be entitled to six months' paid parental leave."

With this, The Telegraph has joined the list of organisations like Aviva and Netflix that have similar parental leave policies for both men and women. The policy also includes parents of adopted children.

Paternity Leave a distant dream in India?

In India, the concept of equal parental leave is a far from the truth. It's only recently that India has approved a six-month paid maternity leave. Paternity leave is something most organisations in the country are still alien to.

In fact, a UNICEF analysis earlier this year showed that India is among almost 90 countries in the world without national policies in place that ensure new fathers get adequate paid time off with their newborn babies. Almost two-thirds of the world's children under one-year-old – nearly 90 million – live in countries where their fathers are not entitled by law to a single day of paid paternity leave, the UNICEF analysis had said.

"Positive and meaningful interaction with mothers and fathers from the very beginning helps shape children's brain growth and development for life, making them healthier and happier, and increasing their ability to learn. It's all of our responsibility to enable them to fill this role," UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.

Let's hope Paternity Leave policies get more consideration from Indian firms in the near future to ensure a pluralistic society.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 19, 2018 02:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).