UNNOTICED DISCRIMINATION

 

"Madam I don't need this saree. Please give me a cash bonus instead, I can use it for my children's education."

Radha Aunty, house help of my neighbor said remorsefully. But her demands were not fulfilled and she was scolded badly by her employer.

 

Another high profile lady who threw her maid out because she was demanding an increment, reflects her immaturity.

 

Why do we treat domestic workers miserably? What is their fault?

Just because they are working for us and we’re their employer, it doesn’t mean that they aren't worthy of love and care.

 

How many of us have food with our house helps? 

How many of us will tell our parents that this kind of behavior is unjustified? (I guess very few) Nobody would speak up for them.

They themselves don’t demand for their rights as they are helpless. And they cannot afford to lose their jobs because nobody will take care after their families , their kids, if they are jobless.

 

Ministry of Labour and Employment introduced the National Policy for Domestic Workers which recognizes their right to form trade unions and associations, but very few are aware of it and very few of them dare to rebel and exercise this right to demand equality.

 

The major reason behind this discrimination is that the tasks performed by these domestic workers are not recognized as ‘work’. Domestic workers in India continue to struggle for visibility and recognition.

Despite of existing laws such as the Unorganized Social Security Act, 2008 , Sexual Harassment against Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and Minimum Wages Schedules which refers about domestic workers they are not secure. The lack of enforcement in letter and spirit renders the fair terms of employment and decent working conditions unfulfilled.

 

Domestic workers should however be guaranteed the same terms of employment as enjoyed by other workers. They deserve the same amount of respect, emoluments, salary, allowances, bonus etc. Why they deserve equal treatment? Because it is clearly mentioned in Article 14 of the constitution that talks about right to equality and violating a fundamental right means abridging the basic structure of our constitution.

Secondly, Right to livelihood is a basic right that ensures survival and healthy development of an individual, if that is denied then this is against the principle of inclusivity and work for all.

 

Contrarily, domestic workers are neither having a secure livelihood nor a basic standard of living. They are surviving on the edge. They are living a marginal life. 

There is no criteria for minimum wage for them. Though, the Labor ministry was planning to bring about a national policy to protect the interest of these workers and to guarantee them minimum wages and social security but it has been pending for almost three years now. 

 

Their right to free speech and expression is also at stake because they don’t have right to deny or speak against the unjust behavior of their employers. It is no less than slavery where you don’t have the right to choice instead you're bound to agree.

There are no legal provisions for paid leaves or bonus, this makes their financial condition worse. During contingency they are denied of holidays and are threatened to fire from work if they don’t continue the chores.

 

 

 I asked one of the workers that how much she is paid?

She said that “I earn three thousand a month and if I take a work off our madam deduct the money. Our work timings are not fixed sometimes I have to work the whole day.”

 

I mean just three thousand a month in these inflationary times. Quite hard to imagine!!!! But it is a reality of various people out there.

 

Kamla (domestic worker) she was quite satisfied with her employer. She said with a wide smile that my madam is very good she pays me three thousand and seven hundred a month, provides me healthy food daily and gifts me a good saree once a month and also funds my daughter’s education, I’m lucky to have her in my life. She’s is a social worker, she works for betterment of the society, I’m proud of my madam.

 

Listening to Kamla’s story I felt that kindness is a rare quality , anyways it still exists. I was glad to hear her experience.

But the poor standard of living and minimal salary of plethora of domestic workers paints a grim picture.

Apart from their working condition I was quite curious to know what exactly are their demands and what they expect from us?

After talking to them, I came to know about three common demands.

                  - Polite behaviour

                  - Good salary (bonus etc)

                  - Fixed working hours (in case of overtime paying extra money accordingly)

Then I started thinking that , what I (we) as an individual can do to make this possible?

After half an hour I prepared a list of things I (we) can do to make their lives better:

 

-  Asking them how was their day? How is their family doing?

-  Making our parents understand about their (workers) rights.

-  Behaving politely with them.

-  Supporting them for their justified demands.

- Teaching (tutions) their kids for free. (I mean that is a noble thing to do.)

-  Gifting them something it can be as small as a chocolate or anything else.

I know we all are busy with our lives and we all have our own commitments but these little act of kindness can make a big difference in someone's life and it can do a lot good to your mental health as well as their. It takes nothing to be kind. 

Let’s be compassionate towards domestic workers!

Let’s be polite to them!

Let's make our bucket of kindness fuller!