From nursing breaks to maternity leave–this activist continues to champion for women-friendly workplaces

Her name is suffixed with the name of the village she was born and raised in. A village well-known for its working class uprising against the state and recorded in history as the Punnapra-Vayalar revolt of 1946.

Kusumam R Punnapra grew up with activism in her blood. Her grandfather was a panchayat Adhikari and a social worker. Her grandmother would often mediate disputes in the courtyard of their huge house. Her mother was a member of the vanitha samajam and Kusumam remembers tagging along and being part of various initiatives.

It was a given then that Kusumam would follow in the footsteps of her illustrious family and choose a life of social work. One that has made unprecedented impact on the lives of women working in the unorganised sector in India.

“My grandfather was shot during the Punnapra revolt, and we grew up on these stories. He was not political, but humane. My family’s work in the society ensured that I too developed empathy for women and children,” she tells HerStory.

After completing her graduate degree in Chemistry, Kusumam joined Keltron in Thiruvanathapuram and later joined the trade union. She continued her social work at the vanitha samajam, visiting fisherfolk and raising awareness on nutrition and health. She also became an active member of the Marunthamkuzhi Residents’ Welfare Association where she lived.

Being a government organisation, Keltron allowed for regular working hours with a creche facility and nursing breaks as mandated by the law. This was helpful when Kusumam had to return to work after her maternity break.

However, she realised both the “apathy” and the “inequality” in the IT sector when her daughter joined one of the big IT companies after completing her BTech in 2005.

“She used to return home as late as 10.30 pm. It was tough. I wondered about the situation of mothers working in such companies,” she says.

Her daughter gave up her job after two years and moved to the UK to study and later settled down with her family in the country.

Fighting for women-friendly workplaces

But the stories of women working in the IT sector continued to deeply affect Kusumam.

A proclaimed writer of articles, short stories, and novels by then, she wrote an opinion piece loosely translated from Malayalam as ‘Tech babies are denied breastmilk’, published in September 2014 in the Mathrubhumi newspaper.

Her ask was both simple and realistic–grant paid maternity leave, provide day care facilities, and allow nursing breaks to women in the IT sector.

Prior to this, six months after she retired from her job, Kusumam had paid several visits to the Kerala Labour Commission office to understand the laws on the basis on which she wrote the piece.

She also sent the article to the Human Rights Commission, which triggered the authorities into action. First, the Employees’ State Insurance-ESI Act 1948, was amended, following which the 1961 Maternity Benefits Act was amended on the basis of her petition.

In 2015, a gazette notification was passed, which directed establishments with 50 or more employees to have day care centres and facilities for women to nurse their babies within 500 metres of the workplace. The law allowing six months maternity leave for women in the IT sector was finally passed in 2017.

“We had to ensure the ESI Act was first amended, otherwise companies would be able to transfer their women employees to another state,” she points out.

Kusumam’s next fight was to ensure teachers in self-financing schools, engineering, medical, and nursing colleges be offered the same benefits.

“A group of nursing college tutors from a college in Thrissur approached me. I wrote a petition to the labour organisation, and for the first time in history, they were granted six months maternity leave. I also fought for 13 pregnant women from Mahatma Gandhi University who approached me for the same,” she says.

Kusumam calls herself a one-woman army who is not affiliated to any organisation or political party. She says she is lucky to have support on different fronts–be it her family, colleagues, or trade union members.

And yet, it took until last year for some IT companies to implement the day care facility rule. “Tata Elxsi wrote to me that they have started creche facilities. In July this year, the PSC office also opened its daycare centre in Thiruvanathapuram,” she shares.

Right now, Kusumam is working towards home nurses getting geriatric training, and says the Human Rights Commission has strictly given a directive to the government to implement this.

“I am blessed to have complete cooperation from the labour department, the human rights commission, and like-minded people. I will continue striving for women and child-friendly workplaces,” she concludes.