Plight of domestic workers

By M L Satyan

Bengaluru, June 24, 2022: In 2018 I had an opportunity to attend the monthly meeting of domestic workers at Good Shepherd Convent, Andheri, Mumbai. There were 35 women, mostly young unmarried girls. Just two women were of middle aged and married.

All of them belonged to Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. 30 of them have been working in Mumbai for almost 8 to 10 years. Five girls were new comers just completing one year. While sharing their personal experiences, they highlighted the typical issues that a domestic worker faces:

Low pay and long working hours: Geetha (name changed) aged 20 is a full day domestic worker for an urban family in Mumbai. She does utensil cleaning, mopping, sweeping, dusting, cooking, taking care of a 4-year-old child, laundry, making beds, cleaning cupboards, watering plants and many other similar tasks.

Initially, she had no idea about how to operate modern household appliances like microwave oven, mixer, grinder, washing machine and television. Instead of training her, the employer used to call her dumb, idiot, untrained, useless while continuing to employ her. During the weekends, the guests are invited for dinner. It starts at 8 pm and ends at 3 am, the next day. After the guests leave the house, Geetha has to wash all the utensils and then she is allowed to eat.

No regular or fixed work schedule: Reshma (name changed) does not have a fixed schedule for her work and has no rest times; she can be asked to do any work at any time. Ad hoc requests come in all the time, like making snacks for guests, taking the children to the park, polishing the shoes, or massaging ‘madam’s feet. But, at the end of the day, she has to complete all her daily chores, even if it means staying back after her shift.

No private space: Prema (name changed) has no privacy, no space where she can rest, lie down or just use her phone. Even to use the toilet she has to go to the common toilet in the basement, meant for all maids and driver. She cannot use any of the 3 toilets she cleans every day in the employer’s home. At night she is made to sleep in a corner of the waiting hall. Her belongings are dumped in the store room.

Lack of social life and support system: Mary (name changed) is permitted to go to church on Sundays. But she is given only 3 to 4 hours, that too in the afternoon. Hence, the monthly meeting takes place only on a Sunday evening. Further, she has no right to ask for a yearly vacation. Her request for a trip back home in Jharkhand can be turned down even if she agrees to go without salary. If she goes on loss of pay, she will lose her job. When she comes back, she has to hunt for a new job in a new household.

Sexual harassment: Almost 70 percent of the girls shared their painful experience of sexual harassment by the men in the family where these maids work. Usually, the girls do not share such painful experiences with anyone due to threatening by the men. So, they suffer silently.

Stigma and Discrimination: When these girls go to their villages, the parents try to get them married. Unfortunately, the young unmarried boys living in the villages have branded all these girls who are working in Mumbai and other cities in India as “sex workers”. So, no boy comes forward to marry these girls. Hence, these girls fall into the trap laid by the city boys who pretend to marry them, impregnate them and leave them. Finally, these duped girls end up in the brothels.

A study: Gagandeep Kaur, a freelance journalist who writes on gender issues, development and technology, gave a special Weekend Review to the media on February 24, 2016.

She mentioned, “There are more than 40 million domestic workers in India and nearly 90 percent of them are women, as per the National Platform for Domestic Workers. The number has dramatically increased in the last decade or so. In 2004-2005 there were 3.05 million women domestic workers in urban India, an increase of 222 percent from 1999-2000. Because of increasing demand, India has witnessed largescale migration of girls from the tribal areas of Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha”.

Domestic workers allege that agents/brokers, who take commission from both the employer and the employee, are one of the main problems. In New Delhi, a ‘placement agency’ for domestic workers can take as much as 25,000 to 30,000 rupees to provide a domestic worker for a year. So, the placement agencies too misuse the ignorant, innocent women domestic workers and make money for themselves.

Introspection needed: Do these domestic workers face various problems only in the families? No. It is sad to note that they face similar problems even in religious houses. According to reliable sources, about 60 to 70 percent of Bishop Houses, Convents, Parish houses employ young girls or aged women for housekeeping work without any social protection package like an appointment letter, monthly salary, fixed leaves, increment/incentive, provident fund/pension scheme and health insurance etc. Shockingly, some of the women domestic workers have become prey to the sexually perverted clerics. As usual, such cases are buried quietly. It is high time for the CBCI/CCBI, CRI, Bishop Houses, Convents, Parish houses to do a sincere introspection on this issue of domestic workers and initiate appropriate corrective measures.

While the change is slow to come, a number of efforts have been made recently to provide legal protection and social security to domestic workers. This segment has been included in the Unorganised Workers Social Security Act of 2008 and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013. The Government also came up with a National Policy on Domestic Workers with the objective of regulation and extension of welfare. However, the ground reality remains far from it, with an almost total absence of rules or regulations to govern this segment.

As responsible citizens, how can we help these domestic workers overcome at least some of their problems? “Charity begins at home”. Hence, let us take a resolution to employ female domestic workers for housekeeping work, whether part-time or full-time, assuring them of a reasonable pay and social benefits.