both men and women, and also ensuring that men and women have the right to an adequate means of livelihood. While these Directive Principles are not enforceable by any court of law, they are crucial to the governance of the country and a state is duty bound to consider them while enacting laws. While “equal pay for equal work” is not expressly a constitutional right, it has been read into the Constitution through the interpretation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 – which guarantee equality before the law, protection against discrimination and equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. The Supreme Court of India has also declared this to be a constitutional goal, available to every individual and capable of being attained through the enforcement of their fundamental rights set out in Articles 14 through 16. In a popular Supreme Court decision, the conditions of employment of the air-hostesses of Air India was challenged. The terms of employment required the mandatory retirement of females: (i) upon attaining the age of 33; (ii) if they were married within four years of service; or (iii) upon their first pregnancy. The court however struck down these provisions and held them to be arbitrary and discriminatory as it violated Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Ancillary legislation While legislation like the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 and the Factories Act, 1948 do not directly address the issue of equal pay for equal work, they provide certain additional benefits a woman can claim. The Maternity Benefit Act applies to all establishments with more than ten employees. However, in states where the Employees’ State Insurance Act applies, employers no longer have any liability under the Maternity Benefit Act. Under this Act, a pregnant woman worker is entitled to 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, and six weeks in case of miscarriage or termination of pregnancy. Pregnant women also have the right to not perform physically arduous work, which may affect their pregnancy, and no deductions can be made from their wages because of this. Additionally, as per the Factories Act, employers are required to provide childcare for children under 6 years old at all worksites that employ over 30 women. Statistics By state The gender pay gap varies across Indian states, and is the highest in the following states: Uttarakhand on the other hand is the state with the lowest percentage of gender