The book examines the nature of maternity entitlements of women within the context of the totality of women's

This study is a small part of a larger study undertaken by the Ta

India probably is the only nation in the world which exclusively enshrines female deities in artistically built temples. The Meenakshi temple at Madurai, Ambabai temple at Kolhapur and the Shantadurga and Mahalaxmi temples at Goa are ample proof of the Hindu reverence for female deities.

Demographic literature is replete with observations of an inverse relation between certain attributes of modernity and family size (Thompson 1929; Notestein 1945; Coale and Hoover 1958; Leiberman 1980, Srinivasan 1986).

The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, is a significant piece of legislation in India designed to protect the health and welfare of women during maternity.