In a new initiative by e-commerce major, Flipkart to encourage employees towards performing corporate social responsibilities effectively, the company will now offer Rs. 50,000 adoption allowance to all staffers, who intend to adopt a child.

This “adoption allowance” put into effect from July 10 can be used towards agency, legal and regulatory costs or any other expenses that may arise during the process of adoption, a spokesperson from Flipkart told PTI.

The rate of adoption in the country has been quite in a state of dismal, with the largest population of children being deserted, abandoned or under institutional care. 1,368 children found new homes in the January-March quarter of 2015, according to data from Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA).

As per terms of the new policy, Flipkart will allow its female employees adopting a child below 12 months the same benefits as under the maternity leave policy. This will include six months of paid leave and four months of flexible working hours. If required, they can also take a career break of a year from job without pay, while being rest assured of the fact that they still hold the job on hand.

In case of adopting child over a year and above, the employee will be entitled to three months of paid leave and four months of flexible working hours. Also male employees can avail of six months paid adoption leave (during the first six months) and four months of flexible working hours.

The spokesperson told Hindustan Times, “If the employee is lookiTwTalng at extending their adoption leaves, but they don’t have enough leaves left, they can take unpaid leave for up to three months and continuity on the same job is assured.”

See: Majority of firms ready to hire mums

With effect from July 1, the Bengaluru-based Flipkart office has further liberated the maternity and paternal leave policy to provide increased flexibility to employees, such that they can take care of personal commitments and be productive at work as well.

“We want to make Flipkart a great workplace for employees, especially when they go through large life events,” said Mekin Maheshwari, chief people officer at the company. This move would help the company attract talent, especially at a time when the war of talent is intense. With more than 33,000 employees, Maheshwari claims these policies are a step towards driving equal opportunities and gender diversity.

Before women employees at Flipkart go on a maternity break, they can further avail of Rs 600 per day transport reimbursement for two months. For to-be-fathers, the company offers 10 days of paid paternity leave and three months of flexible working hours, when they become a dad. The company also offers maternity claim benefit of Rs 65,000 in case of normal delivery and Rs 80,000 in case of C-section.

Puneet Rathi, head, advisory and knowledge, Society for Human Resource Management India opines to Live Mint sceptically, “Giving money for adoption is good, but the adoption process itself is tough in India—especially if you want to adopt a girl child. I know so many people who want to adopt, but the process is too complicated—there’s just so much paperwork.”

While a Supreme Court judgement has made it mandatory for companies to give at least 90 days’ maternity leave in India, there is no such rule for adoptive parents. Through this initiative, Flipkart is encouraging adoption in the country, while giving time to new mothers to bond with their child. However the question remains how many adoptions will the sum of Rs. 50,000 allowance support and encourage? Only time will tell…

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Image credits: flickr.com