Even as the labour ministry is busy putting the amended Maternity Benefit Act together that would entitle working women in private sectors to 26 weeks of maternity leave from the existing 12, the big four consulting firms have already taken a leap. While Deloitte has declared 26 weeks of maternity leave for its woman employees, PricewaterhouseCoopers, EY and KPMG are in the process of finalising such policies...PwC is planning to retain women who leave for maternity with an 'umbilical cord' of up to seven years or so. This would allow women on maternity leave to be on the rolls of the company without actively working and without pay...Deloitte is shortly introducing campaigns like "Bringing Women Back to Work" and "Men as Champions" at all its offices in India...only a handful of other companies have announced a six month maternity leave for women. Microsoft India is one of the recent ones to do so.