Domestic workers demand better wages, pension

Demand for protection and welfare of domestic workers in India, including ratification of ILO Convention and enactment of laws.

The National Domestic Workers Movement and Tamil Nadu Domestic Workers Welfare Trust staged a demonstration in Madurai on Tuesday, demanding the Centre and the State governments to fulfil the demands of the domestic workers that included enactment of Central and State laws for the protection and welfare of the domestic workers.

The members carried placards and urged the governments to fulfil their demands. They said that most of the domestic workers were women and their demands were being ignored by the governments. The International Labour Organisation Convention held in Geneva in 2011 recommended decent work for domestic workers. However, India is yet to ratify the convention, they said.

The members demanded that India ratify the convention for the welfare of the domestic workers. Laws should be enacted both at the Central and the State level for the protection and welfare of the domestic workers, they said.

The members also demanded medical insurance and weekly offs. They said that they worked for 12 to 14 hours a day and still were paid only a meagre sum as wages. They said that the domestic workers aged 55 years should be made eligible for pension benefits. It should be increased to ₹ 3,000. The minimum wage for the domestic workers should be fixed at ₹ 100 per hour, they said.

State-level Coordinator P. Clarammal said that taking into account the social security of the domestic workers, 1 % of the house tax collected in the State should be allocated for the welfare of the domestic workers. They should also be provided free houses under the welfare scheme, she said and added that the Employees State Insurance Scheme should be extended to domestic workers.