Jahanvi Somvanshi & Tulika Somvanshi
Introduction
The Pune Zilha Gharkaamgar Sanghtana, on the occasion of International Domestic Workers Day (June 16), expressed its solidarity with domestic workers across the world, who are currently facing huge crisis because of Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown. According to International Labour Organization (ILO), more than 55 million domestic workers across the world are at risk of losing jobs. India is no exception to this crisis. On 24th March, 2020, when the Government of India announced the lockdown all over the country it aggravated the plight of domestic workers most of whom are women. The lockdown affected all the sectors of workers but it had a huge negative impact on the livelihood of domestic workers. Although many politicians and activists urged employers to offer paid leave until conditions are suitable for work it didn’t improve their conditions. Many workers have been fired from jobs because they were unable to go to work, some are paid reduced salaries and others are compelled to work in these dangerous times.
Domestic workers are an important part of global workforce in informal employment and are categorized as one of the most vulnerable groups of workers. According to National Sample Survey (2012), 39 lakhs people are working as domestic workers in private households out of which 26 lakhs are female. Domestic workers over time have become the need of almost every household but they are rendered helpless during the pandemic. Many domestic worker unions and organizations have demanded for a concrete legislation especially designed for domestic workers which can provide a form of security to them.
This article seeks to analyse the existing measures undertaken by the governments throughout the country to protect domestic workers and improve their working conditions. The article also explores the international efforts taken to reduce the plight of domestic workers. Further, it provides for some measures which can be taken to empower domestic workers in India and ensure better working conditions for them.
Analysis of Existing Measures
A domestic worker is faced with myriad of problems which includes hefty work load, extended working hours, no job security, disadvantages of not recognized as formal worker and paid leave. This list is not exhaustive. One of the main reasons behind their sufferings is the ineffective implementation of legislations. It is pertinent to examine the measures taken by the governments and their effectiveness in improving the lives of domestic workers.
Minimum Wages Act 1948, though not a special legislation, provided for regulation of wages for domestic workers. However, only few states placed domestic workers in the schedule to grant minimum wages to them. It was largely ineffective considering most of the workers were left out in different states and were unable to avail its benefits. Another major legislation which primarily impacted the lives of women domestic workers is Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. This Act extended to domestic workers as well. However, it wasn’t able to make the requisite impact due to the unawareness of its provisions among the women domestic workers. Furthermore, it failed to address the needs of women working in informal sectors where there is no proper communication of their woes.
Employee State Insurance Act, 1948 provides for provident fund, medical benefits, maternity relief and other such measures to workers recognized under the Act. By a circular dated 21st September, 2016 the provisions of this Act were extended to include only domestic workers of Hyderabad and Delhi under its purview. Registration was voluntary. However, benefits such as maternity relief, disability allowance were not provided to them. The reason behind this treatment was that the Act classified domestic workers as self-employed which makes them ineligible for certain benefits. Therefore, it was another failed attempt to address the plight of domestic workers.
The only special legislation that has provided some kind of relief to domestic workers is Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008. The Act provides for protection to domestic workers and categorized them as unorganized labour force. It established National Social Security Board and mandated the same to be followed at state level. Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana is a scheme under the Act which caters to the medical needs of domestic workers. It provides substantial aid to domestic workers who were earlier rendered helpless in absence of medical assistance. Nevertheless, the legislation has failed to ensure benefit to domestic workers and provide them with a secure working environment. It has been criticized for its ineffective implementation due to unavailability of funds with the Boards, delay in allocation of benefits to workers and fraudulent activities of boards. As a result it was unsuccessful in mitigating the worries of domestic workers.
Two state legislations which are worthy of some praise are:
- Tamil Nadu Wages Act, 1982
The act established Tamil Nadu Domestic Welfare Board in the year 2007. It was the first state that allocated a separate department to address the issues of domestic workers. The Board provided them with various benefits such as maternity relief, provident fund, accident insurance, etc. However, it couldn’t achieve its optimum success due to lack of awareness among domestic workers of their rights and shortage of funds. Nonetheless, it was a good effort on the part of government.
- Maharashtra Domestic Workers Welfare Board Act, 2008
It was the first Act in the state which recognized the domestic helper as ‘worker’ and provided them with certain rights such as minimum wages, maternity benefits and other employment perks. It was a remarkable effort on part of the government to improve the working conditions of domestic workers who have been helping households for decades. Despite its guarantee of relief to workers it failed to provide them stability and security due to lackadaisical approach of boards to address the problems of domestic workers. It also witnessed low registration of workers. Hence, it was a sparkly start but ultimately became a scarred attempt to address some grievances faced by domestic workers in the State.
Around 16 private member bills have been introduced since 1959 to grant security to domestic workers and improve their working conditions. But none of them was considered in true spirit to ease the lives of domestic workers and hence never passed by the Houses to become a concrete enactment. The bill of 2016 introduced by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor in Rajya Sabha was remarkable in nature as it urged for the first time to recognize domestic helpers as workers under various acts and provide them equal treatment as other workers. However, it was rebuffed on the face of it which shows the apathy of the members of the House towards the woes of domestic workers.
A draft to formulate a national legislation to address the plight of domestic workers was introduced by the government in 2011. This attempt was also put in list of pending legislations and was never discussed afterwards. Another endeavour was undertaken by the current government in 2019 to enact a legislation to codify the rights of domestic workers. However, since then nothing has been said about the policy for domestic workers. It seems the awaited-policy will be in pipeline for a long time. India has also failed to comply with the requisite international standards for protection of domestic workers all over the world. In 2011, India signed the Domestic Workers Convention of ILO which provides an all-inclusive framework to protect rights of domestic workers. However, it was never ratified. It throws light on the fact that the problems of domestic workers are treated so lightly. No justification can explain the undue delay in framing a legislation that protects its hard-working domestic workers, who also share the same grievances as workers in other industries.
Conclusion
It is evident from the analysis of existing measures that domestic workers in the country are not protected satisfactorily. Governments have clearly, over decades, failed to curb the problem of domestic workers. The Covid-19 pandemic has once again resurfaced the plight of domestic workers in the country. This opportunity should be utilized to provide them with the due benefits that they are very much entitled to. A strong legislation enlisting their rights, benefits and dispute resolution mechanisms should be enacted at the earliest. Awareness of legal rights must be increased so that a domestic worker can avail the benefits. Registrations of their employment as domestic worker should be prioritized to make the sector more organized. In the end, a domestic worker should be made to feel secured socially, economically and legally in the country. Hence, it is the need of hour to provide due relief to them as early as possible.
Janhavi Somvanshi, 2nd year student in National Law University, Jodhpur & Tulika Somvanshi, 1st year student in Institute of Law Nirma Universit
Picture Credits: Deccan Herald
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