In the words of India’s labor minister, women have just been given a "humble¹ gift" of six months paid maternity² leave. Experts say it could sour very quickly.

用印度劳工部长的话说，才给印度女性送了一份“卑微的礼物”——6个月的产假。不过专家表示，很快这可能起到反作用。

The new policy -- which became law Wednesday -- more than doubles the time off for working Indian mothers, and means the country now has more generous maternity leave than the U.S., Japan and France.

这项于星期三正式成为法规的新政策，将女性带薪休假时间翻番，这意味着印度产假时长已超过美国、日本和法国。

The Indian government hopes to encourage more women -- less than 30% of whom are employed -- to enter the workforce³. But employers and recruitment experts fear it could have the opposite effect, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses.

印度政府希望更多的女性走入职场——当前印度女性就业人数比重低于30%。不过雇主和招聘专家则担心此举可能适得其反，特别是对于中小型企业来说。

"You will probably see a further decline in women being hired," Subramanyam Sreenivasaiah, CEO at human resources consulting firm Ascent⁴ HR, told CNN.

Ascent 人力资源咨询公司CEO Subramanyam Sreenivasaiah在接受CNN采访时说，“你极有可能会看到职业女性人数出现下滑”。

Here’s the problem. The government has mandated⁵ 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, but it doesn’t provide any financial support for employers.

问题就在于，政府规定了26周的带薪产假，却未为雇主提供任何财政支持。

That means companies must bear all the associated costs -- including training and hiring a temporary replacement⁶. The law also says companies with more than 50 employees must set up daycare services for working mothers.

这意味着公司必须承担包括培训和雇用临时工在内的相关费用。印度法律还规定，拥有50名以上员工的公司必须为职业妇女设立托儿所。

"The industry cannot afford to do this at all," Sreenivasaiah added.

Sreenivasaiah补充说，“业界无法承担此费用”。

Big Indian companies and multinationals⁷ should be able to cope with the change. Indeed, Swedish furniture firm Ikea moved quickly to introduce new policies that went one better and also gave new fathers six months off.

不过，印度大型公司和跨国公司应该能应对此政策变化。确实，瑞典宜家家居集团迅速推出了更高一筹的新政策，并且给予新生儿父亲六个月的产假。

But smaller companies could struggle. Jubin Shaju, a human resources executive at digital payments firm Chillr, says hiring practices in India already tend to discriminate⁸ against women."This makes things even worse," he said.

但小公司却在苦苦挣扎。印度电子支付公司Chillr公司的人力资源主管Jubin Shaju表示，印度的招聘工作中已有歧视妇女的倾向，“此政策变化会导致情况愈发严重”。

Women aspiring⁹ to work in India’s booming startup sector¹⁰ could be hit particularly hard.

而对那些意向就职于印度蓬勃发展的初创企业的女性来说，打击尤甚。

There’s no official data so far, but a survey of over 4,300 startups by social network LocalCircles found that 26% would rather hire male employees. Another 40% said they would hire women, but only if they’re worth "the cost."

目前虽未有官方数据出炉，但印度社交网络“当地圈”的一项调查发现，在参与调查的4300多家初创公司中，26%的雇主偏向雇用男性员工。另外40%的雇主则说只有当女性值得“成本”时，才会雇佣女性。

Around 35% of respondents said the new maternity leave requirements would negatively impact their profitability.

约35%的受访者表示新的产假政策会对其盈利带来负面影响。

India’s labor ministry¹¹ did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

对于评论中多样化的请求，印度劳工部未给予回应。

Others point out that the law -- while a step in the right direction -- doesn’t cover nearly 150 million women who work in temporary, casual jobs or are self-employed.

还有人指出，这则法规——虽往正确的方向迈出了一步，但并未覆盖近1.5亿打散工、临时工或是自由职业者的女性。

"India is not yet there in terms of overall infrastructure¹², education, healthcare," said Sairee Chahal. Chahal is the founder¹³ and CEO of SHEROES, an online platform that helps Indian women find jobs.

SHEROES公司的创始人兼CEO Sairee Chahal表示：“印度在整体基础设施、教育和医疗保健方面还未到位。” SHEROES是印度一家帮助女性求职的在线平台。

"It is good to have the government thinking about it, but it is also a step in isolation," she added.

她说，“政府考虑产假是件好事，但它也是孤立女性的一个举措。”

Sudha Ishara is one of many women who won’t benefit from the new rules. She runs a tutoring center at home, where she teaches nearly two dozen students while taking care of her child.

和许多女性一样，Sudha Ishara不是这项新政策的受益者。她在家里经营一个辅导中心，教20余名学生的同时，照顾她的孩子。

Ishara quit the school she previously¹⁴ taught at when her son was born six months ago, because she couldn’t afford the unpaid¹⁵ maternity leave it offered her.

6个月前，她的儿子出生时，由于学校不能为她提供带薪产假，她从之前工作的学校辞职了。

"I feel tied down, but the baby needs his mother," she said.

她说，“我觉得被拴住了，但孩子总需要妈妈照顾”。

Now that he’s a little older, however, the 32-year-old mother of two is looking for a nanny -- and a new job.

现在孩子大一些了，这位32岁的有两个孩子的母亲打算找个保姆，也给自己找份新工作。