Priyanka Chopra | Source: Instagram @priyankachopra

Yesterday, we at MissMalini, individually and collectively pledged to look inwards to discover how we can drive social change. But much before we started our campaign our favourite global icon and desi girl, Priyanka Chopra was at the forefront, kicking down barriers and inviting change.

It was PeeCee’s birthday yesterday and as she turned a year older, she made sure that she was bringing about change by taking small but substantial steps. While she had already introduced pay parity to encourage the growth of a gender-neutral work environment earlier this year, on her birthday, she introduced a new set of benefits for the women of her production house Purple Pebble Productions.

Working mothers of PPP will now have flexible timings and women will get special benefits during maternity leave as well.

Speaking to Mid-Day, Priyanka’s mom, Madhu Chopra said,

Since 80 per cent of our female staff is married, we had to keep their interests in mind. The idea was simple — why should women’s life choices become professional hurdles? The policy of flexible timings for mothers was set in place by Priyanka, but fine-tuned by senior members of our company.

Priyanka believes that women shouldn’t have to compromise on their life choices to achieve great heights in their career. Her mother also revealed that it was the fierce feminist in PeeCee that wanted to create a safe and loving environment for women to work in. What’s more? PeeCee proved that she stands for true gender parity by addressing something that is rarely talked about- Paternity leaves.

Speaking about whether men enjoy the same benefits as women, all Priyanka’s mom had to say was,

That’s the rule of gender parity. One of our marketing executives took paternity leave of four weeks.

Under the new benefits that have been introduced, expecting mothers at PPP will get 12 weeks of maternity leave and financial assistance for care. They’re also currently working towards creating an in-house creche for their employees.

Now that’s what we call some truly inspiring and uplifting news!

Thank you for being you and belated Happy Birthday, PeeCee!