New Delhi, April 25: Total food production in 2018-19 will be 283.7 million tonnes, including 113 million tonnes of rice, Union Agriculture Ministry said on Wednesday.

Owing to signs of normal and favourable monsoon, foodgrain production during the kharif season is expected to be 140.2 million tonnes while it would be about 142.5 million tonnes during the rabi season as per the tentative targets, Agriculture Commissioner S.K. Malhotra said at the Kharif Conference here.

Paddy production would be around 113 million tonnes in 2018-19 including 98 tonnes during Kharif season. The ministry has targeted 100 million tonnes of wheat production this year.

As per the targets, pulses production is expected to be 24 million tonnes while oilseeds production would be 36 million tonnes.

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Bengaluru: Karnataka is considering to implement a progressive policy granting women six days of paid period leave annually.

Labour Minister Santhosh Lad told Deccan Herald that an 18-member committee, headed by Christ University’s law professor Sapna S., had submitted its report on the initiative. Lad commended the committee’s effort and noted that their report proposes to give six paid menstrual leaves for women. “This is important as I have seen from close circles how women go through various physiological changes in the menstrual period that necessitates rest,” Lad said.

He added that the initiative will help increase women’s participation in the workforce, particularly at a time when it is relatively low.

Mohammed Mohsin, Principal Secretary (Department of Labour) told the publication that the proposed policy would apply to women professionals in both government and private sector.

If implemented, Karnataka will join Bihar, Kerala, and Odisha as the fourth state in India to provide menstrual leave.

Former Union Minister Smriti Irani had remarked last year that period is not a "handicap," describing it as a natural aspect of women’s lives that does not require a specific policy for "paid leave".