Domestic work, as defined by the ILO Convention No. 189 (2011), includes work performed in or for a household. India has nearly 4–9 million registered domestic workers (ILO, NSSO), though estimates by the National Domestic Workers’ Movement (NDWM) put the number above 50 million, with 75% being women.
Key Challenges Faced by Domestic Workers:
· Poor Working Conditions:
- Long hours, verbal/physical abuse, and lack of rest or leave.
- Live-in workers are especially vulnerable to confinement and harassment.
· Absence of Legal Protection:
- No national legislation governs working conditions, wages, or welfare.
- The Domestic Workers (Regulation of Work and Social Security) Bill, 2017 and the Draft Policy on Domestic Workers (2017) remain unimplemented.
· Implementation Gaps:
- Though domestic work is included under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, only 13 States/UTs have notified minimum wages.
- Enforcement is poor due to the private nature of households as workplaces.
· Lack of Social Security:
- Limited coverage under Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008.
- Benefits under RSBY/PM-JAY and e-Shram portal are often inaccessible due to poor registration.
· Informal Placement Agencies: Many operate without regulation, often trafficking women and children under the guise of employment.
· Weak Unionisation: Only a small fraction is organised under unions like National Platform for Domestic Workers (NPDW), reducing collective bargaining power.
Way Forward:
· Comprehensive National Legislation: Define working hours, minimum wages, paid leave, and grievance redressal and ensure penal provisions for abuse and trafficking.
- Institutional Mechanisms:
- Set up Tripartite Committees (employers–employees–state) for wage fixation and dispute resolution.
- Ensure District and Panchayat-level grievance redressal under the Sexual Harassment Act (2013).
- Data and Registration: Universal registration through e-Shram or state welfare boards to ensure targeted delivery of benefits.
- Awareness and Sensitisation:
- Campaigns to address social stigma and undervaluation of domestic work.
- Strengthen civil society unions like NDWM for collective bargaining.
- Ratify ILO Convention 189: Align domestic labour policies with global standards on fair treatment and social security.
Conclusion:
Domestic workers constitute the invisible backbone of India’s care economy. Ensuring dignity, fair wages, and social protection for domestic workers is not merely a welfare measure — it is a constitutional obligation and a test of India’s social justice framework.
‘+1’ Value Addition:
- Domestic work accounts for 3.5% of women’s total employment (SPRF 2024).
- About 200,000 children are employed as domestic help as per NCRB data.
- Over 66% of domestic workers are concentrated in urban areas.
- Supreme Court (January 2025): Directed the Union Government to frame a comprehensive national law and set up a committee (still pending).
- Tamil Nadu: Recognises 2.1 million workers under Manual Workers Act, 1982, provides welfare board benefits.
- Karnataka: Introduced Domestic Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2025, with provisions for Mandatory registration of employers and workers, Written contracts, minimum wages, and overtime pay.
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