Union minister Jitendra Singh on Monday said male government employees, who are single parents, are now entitled to child care leave, news agency PTI reported. Singh said ‘single male parent’ includes employees who are unmarried/widower/divorcee and may therefore be expected to take up the responsibility of caring for a child single-handedly.

Singh said the orders regarding the decision was issued some time back but wasn’t able to garner enough public traction, adding that this decision is path-breaking and will bring ease of living for government servants.

According to an official statement, the minister of state for personnel said an employee on child care leave may now leave the headquarters with the prior approval of the competent authority, according to an official statement.

In addition, the Leave Travel Concession (LTC) may be availed by the employee even if he is on child care leave, he added.

The child care leave can be granted at 100% of leave salary for the first 365 days and 80% of leave salary for the next 365 days, Singh said in the statement issued by the personnel ministry.

Based on inputs received over a period of time, he said another welfare measure introduced in this regard is that in the case of a disabled child, the condition of availing child care leave up to the age of 22 years of the child has been removed.

Now child care leave can be availed by a government servant for a disabled child of any age, he added.