Karnataka has ordered the automatic approval of menstrual leave applications submitted by women government employees through the Kartyavya app, removing the discretion of sanctioning authorities to question, withhold or reverse qualifying requests.
The directive from the state government’s Praja Seva department means women employees will no longer have to justify their need for menstrual leave to the authority responsible for approving it. Officials have been instructed to ensure that applications for the leave are submitted only through the Kartyavya app.
The order applies to the existing provision that gives women government employees one day of menstrual leave every month. The benefit was introduced without requiring employees to submit a medical certificate, according to the circular cited in the report.
The Kartyavya app is described as an AI-powered mobile attendance registration platform. Under the latest procedure, once a menstrual leave application is authorised through the app, the decision cannot be withheld, questioned or reversed by a sanctioning authority.
The department’s intervention follows reports of women employees facing difficulties while trying to use the leave entitlement. Applications were allegedly being held up, while some sanctioning officers were reported to have questioned the need for the leave. The new instruction seeks to prevent individual officers from exercising discretion after an application meets the prescribed conditions.
The circular states that an application fulfilling the required conditions should be sanctioned promptly. It also makes clear that the sanctioning authority has no discretion to reject such an application.
By shifting the process from officer-level approval to an app-based workflow, the directive changes how the entitlement is administered within Karnataka’s government offices. The immediate issue is not the creation of a new leave benefit, but the removal of an approval barrier that could prevent employees from accessing an existing one.
The order also places responsibility on departments and officials to use the prescribed digital route. Employees are expected to apply through Kartyavya, while sanctioning authorities must process applications in accordance with the department’s instruction rather than assess the personal need for leave.
The Praja Seva department’s clarification therefore links the leave entitlement to a defined administrative process: an eligible application submitted through the authorised platform is to be approved promptly and cannot be rejected at the discretion of the approving officer.
