RIGHTS OF THE INVISIBLE WORKERS
By Ginu Sunny*
Domestic
workers comprise a significant part of the unorganised sector and contribute to
the national income. Yet, they remain invisible, unregistered in any book and
excluded from the labour legislations of our country. The domestic workforce is
often considered the grey area of
work force that works behind closed doors of private households and is often
hard to reach by any conventional policy tools.For instance, this is how the
National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) in its survey in 2009–10 described
the Indian scenario of employment and workforce.
“The total
employment in the country was 46.5 crore comprising around 2.8 crore in the
organised and the remaining 43.7 crore workers in the unorganised sector. Out
of these workers in the unorganised sector, there are 24.6 crore workers
employed in agricultural sector, about 4.4 crore in construction work and
remaining in manufacturing and service.”(C-DAC, 2016)
Being a
highly feminised sector, the nature of domestic work differs from person to
person making it a unique and complex workforce. The household works and the
employer–employee relationship differ in each situation. Even though most of
them work 24/7, they are paid very low wages, have no guaranteed weekly day of
rest or medical cover, face restrictions on freedom of movement, and often
suffer physical, mental and sexual abuse.
The
exploitation of domestic workers can partly be attributed to gaps in national
labour and employment legislations, and often reflects discrimination along the
lines of sex, race and caste. Various state governments put forward
legislations such as the Unorganized Social Security Act and Minimum Wages
Schedule, which refer to domestic workers also. However, we can still find an
absence of a comprehensive, uniformly applicable national legislation that
guarantees fair terms of employment and decent working conditions. Building and
strengthening national institutions, adopting effective policy and legislative
reforms, facilitating the organisation and representation of domestic workers
and their employers, regulation of recruitment and placement agencies in the
resource states, and raising awareness and advocacy on domestic workers’ rights
are some strategies put forward to change this situation. Main hurdles in
implementing these strategies are society’s attitude towards domestic workers and
illiteracy, which exclude this disadvantaged section from enjoying the benefits
of their own rights. Organising them into one group is also a giant leap in
achieving these strategies. But other than these, the ultimate change should
happen on the part of employers, who should ensure that theyrespect the rights
of domestic workersand treat themfair and square.
There is no
dearth of legislations or programmes in our country that intend to cover domestic
workers and protect their rights. The problem lies in their implementation and weak
institutions and systems of the country. Rather than framing new legislations
and forming new organisations, we should work to fortify these
institutions and make them capable of delivering and defending the rights of
domestic workers. This will help turn the spotlight on the plight of domestic
workers and kindle the society to recognise their contributions.
The author is Research Intern with CPPR.
*Featured Image source: Business Line
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