Karnataka, the southern Indian state which is also home to some of the world's biggest IT firms, has become the first in the country to offer paid menstrual leave to all working women in formal jobs.
According to the new policy, women aged 18 to 52 working in government and private sectors can take one day of menstrual leave every month, and no medical certificate is required to avail the leave.
The policy covers 350,000 to 400,000 women in the formal sector, although it excludes a much larger group, estimated to be six million, who are engaged as domestic workers and daily-wage labourers.
However, the state's menstrual leave policy is still being celebrated as a significant step.
India is not the first country to lean into the much-needed idea of menstrual leave, as countries such as Japan, South Korea, Spain and Indonesia already give their female citizens this benefit.
Some Indian states also offer limited menstrual leave, as Bihar and Odisha give two days per month to government employees, while Kerala provides it to university and industrial training institute staff.
But in India, the move has received mixed reactions, with some debating over potential gender bias and equality concerns, while others argue it's a necessary right, allowing women to avoid losing pay or working through unavoidable menstrual pain.
However, some women feel that the policy will be hard to implement.
Menstruation remains taboo in many parts of India, with women often barred from temples or isolated at home as "unclean" during their periods.
Talking to the BBC, Anunita Kundu, a manager at a software company, noted, "How can one go and seek menstrual leave when we don't even speak about it [menstruation]? Our society has not reached that level."
The new policy could potentially allow more people to talk and normalise menstruation.
