The passage of the landmark Maternity Benefits Act 1961 by the Indian parliament, which mandates 26 weeks of paid leave for mothers as against the existing 12, has generated more heartburn than hurrahs due to its skewed nature...The critics point out that the new law will benefit only a minuscule percentage of women employed in the organised sector while ignoring a large demographic toiling in the country’s unorganised sector such as contractual workers, farmers, casual workers, self-employed women and housewives...India sees 29.7 million women getting pregnant each year....Even if the law is fully implemented...studies show that it will benefit only 1.8 million.