When Radhika Basu (name changed) and her husband adopted a baby girl five years ago, the new mother was denied maternity leave by the south Calcutta college where she teaches. Radhika had no choice but to attend classes a week after bringing the baby home.

But leave rules are set to change for the 12,000-odd college teachers in the state, nearly 40 per cent of whom are women.

The government has decided to introduce uniform leave rules for male and female teachers of colleges affiliated to all state-aided universities in Bengal. The new rules will include a provision for eight weeks maternity leave for teachers who adopt infants.

“At present, leave rules for college teachers differ from one university to another. Every university grants maternity leave to biological mothers but there is no provision for leave in case of adoption,” said an education department official.

Some colleges do allow teachers to take leave for adoption but that is at the discretion of the governing bodies.

“Adoption is common these days. Eight weeks of leave will help mothers who adopt to be near the child,” said Dipak Bhattacharya, the member secretary of West Bengal Council of Higher Education.

Such leave will, however, be granted only for legal adoption and after the submission of the relevant documents.

The higher education council has prepared the draft of the new leave rules and sent it to the higher education department. Once the department approves of the proposals, the new rules will be forwarded to the universities. They will be implemented after the universities ratify the proposal, a government official said.

The rules will allow women teachers to take leave for miscarriage and abortion too. Male and female teachers will also be able to take study leave.