Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi has said that she really doesn't see the point in bringing a law which mandates paternity leave since men in India are likely to use it as a holiday instead of taking care of their children. She said that men in India do not utilise their existing leaves in order to take care of their child. She added that paternity leave can be considered only once the woman goes back to work after 26 weeks of leave. I will be happy to consider this proposal, but it will just be a holiday for me, he won’t do anything, said Maneka.  In light of the recent move to increase maternity leave from the existing 12 weeks to 26, women rights activists and parliamentarians have called for the government to consider paternity leave so that men do their bit in raising infants, and to break the prevalent notion that taking care of children is first and foremost the mother's responsibility.

According to a notification issued in the late ’90s under the Central Civil Services Leave Rules, men in government service  biological as well as adoptive fathers can take 15 days of paid leave, which they are allowed to merge with any other leave. There is no legislation mandating compulsory leave for fathers in the private sector, with many companies granting paternity leave for a week or two at the most. “If men gave me one iota of hope by taking sick leave for child care, then yes, we can think of mooting a proposal for paternity leave,” Maneka said. It is also argued that only increasing maternity leave will further bias employers against hiring women.