THE STANDPOINT
Fifty year old Chandra Rani is cooking dinner for three other people in her family when we reach her house in Madannpur Khadar. ‘Khadar’ as it is popularly called, is a difficult locality to live in. Situated alongside a stinking Yamuna canal, it is a Jhuggi Jhopar colony, a cluster of slums, barely two kilometres to the point where pollution is at its maximum in Delhi. A group of domestic workers including Rani started living here after they were evicted from a more ‘posh’ part of the city, the Chittaranjan Park .
The city’s growth has pushed the maids of the city to its peripheries because paying rent has become difficult. These slums, when they came here were easier to acquire, and were later regularized. The house Chandra’s family has had for 15 years now has serious problems of their own. Sewage water doesn’t flow properly; increasing members in family has made the only room in the house more than crammed.
The workers at Khadar have lived the difficult days and are now relatively well off. Migrant workers from different parts of the country who have come much later have are facing the worst.
In most areas where domestic workers live in the city, any provisions the government can provide is much wanted. Domestic workers are not left with enough money at the end of the month to look after their or their children’s health and rely on local clinics for treatment.
The city’s growth has pushed the maids of the city to its peripheries because paying rent has become difficult. These slums, when they came here were easier to acquire, and were later regularized. The house Chandra’s family has had for 15 years now has serious problems of their own. Sewage water doesn’t flow properly; increasing members in family has made the only room in the house more than crammed.
The workers at Khadar have lived the difficult days and are now relatively well off. Migrant workers from different parts of the country who have come much later have are facing the worst.
In most areas where domestic workers live in the city, any provisions the government can provide is much wanted. Domestic workers are not left with enough money at the end of the month to look after their or their children’s health and rely on local clinics for treatment.
Against the extreme poverty of the domestic workers is the indifference of the government. Domestic work in India is one of the largest unregulated industries. There are no legal provisions which recognize domestic workers as workers or protect them. A majority of workers are invariably forced into this profession because it is the easiest thing to do for a large section of unskilled women.
With more and more middle class women working outside the house, their house work is being taken up by cheap labour coming from women of the low-income class. These women need sustenance to survive in an expensive metropolis. Majority of these workers are not registered with the government, and hence, do not avail the benefits of the Public Distribution System which gives essential commodities at subsidized prices.
With more and more middle class women working outside the house, their house work is being taken up by cheap labour coming from women of the low-income class. These women need sustenance to survive in an expensive metropolis. Majority of these workers are not registered with the government, and hence, do not avail the benefits of the Public Distribution System which gives essential commodities at subsidized prices.
The ILO intervention
When India became signatory to the International Labour Organisation’s convention on the rights of domestic workers, a national Policy was formulated. The policy has given a series of recommendations including the code of conduct of employers, placement agencies and the constitution of a board which implements welfare schemes for domestic workers, but none of this has been implemented.
11 million workers are still waiting for a law that will guard them against exploitation and assure them of their rights.
11 million workers are still waiting for a law that will guard them against exploitation and assure them of their rights.
Status of ratification of ILO convention no. 189. Click on country to show status.
A bill was proposed in the parliament as early as 1959, and since then the demand for a national law has been on the table.
A law which specifies the hours of work, maternity leave and social security among other provisions.
Only a handful of states even have any specifications of wages for domestic work, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
A law which specifies the hours of work, maternity leave and social security among other provisions.
Only a handful of states even have any specifications of wages for domestic work, including Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The workplace of crime
Instances of crime and human rights violation against domestic workers have become an everyday occurrence in India, particularly for the workers who reside with the employer or live in the vicinity. There are news reports frequently reporting abuse, rape, torture, sexual harassment of household workers.
Yet, these stories of extreme violence and human rights violations have deeply normalized in the minds of people. A large proportion of crimes against domestic workers also go unreported. According to the official statistics, there were only 3422, 3517, 3564 cases reported in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012 respectively. But this is only the tip of the iceberg according to domestic workers’ rights activists and advocacy groups. Subhash Bhatnagar, who runs a shelter home and rescue agency for migrant workers, gets approximately 3-4 cases a month. The members of Delhi Domestic Workers Forum, a self-organised NGO of domestic workers are working towards organizing the scattered domestic workers. The objective is to get these workers to tell their stories of discrimination, torture and violence. |
Cases of violence registered against domestic workers
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According to reports, 86% of the domestic workers constitute women workers, because of the 'flexibility' provided by the work to come back and work for one’s own family. Apart from reinstating the sexual division of labour, it also leaves the domestic workers in a deplorable state when their work place is not safe. There is also no maternity or sick leave; social security does not even come up as a question.
The abundant supply of workforce ensures that cheap replacement is always ready at hand. Domestic workers flock in from different parts of the country into the metropolitan cities in the hope of employment. The influx into Delhi comes from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Organizing domestic workers is difficult because of the scattered work place. To add to this, the employers and welfare associations do not approve of such meetings. The lack of unity among the workers themselves is also a major contributing factor.
The abundant supply of workforce ensures that cheap replacement is always ready at hand. Domestic workers flock in from different parts of the country into the metropolitan cities in the hope of employment. The influx into Delhi comes from Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Organizing domestic workers is difficult because of the scattered work place. To add to this, the employers and welfare associations do not approve of such meetings. The lack of unity among the workers themselves is also a major contributing factor.
The issues of domestic workers are manifold. Some new migrants don’t have basic identification and undergo harassment from police on this account. The others are used to not getting paid for months, and continue working in unsafe and unregulated conditions.
Moreover, domestic workers do not even have the right to legally form a trade union. They need to get registered as workers of another profession to do so.
In a grim situation such as this, there is an urgent need for a law which guarantees domestic workers their rights as workers; one which recognizes them as workers, their profession as an industry, establishes minimum wages, specifies leaves and benefits and ensures some form of social security. This is going to be a long fight.