NEW DELHI: Shillong MP Vincent H Pala has urged the Centre to bring in a proper legislation to ensure their proper working conditions for and safety of domestic workers.
Raising the matter during the zero hour in Parliament, Pala said for the last few decades, there has been demand for domestic workers’ social benefits “but there is no law to ensure their due wages, working hours and living conditions”. “Absence of any legal protection has led to severe exploitation of women and children which include depriving domestic workers of a decent wage and excessively long working hours,” Pala said in the House.
“The condition of live-in domestic helps is worse. The domestic workers do not have living conditions and at times sexually exploited by the agents,” he added.
The MP suggested that considering all these factors, the government should come with a law for the freedom and welfare of the scores of domestic helps. In Meghalaya, domestic workers under the banner of the All Meghalaya Domestic Workers’ Union (AMDWU) have sought the intervention of the state government for fixing wages, besides creation of a welfare board for them in the state. AMDWU has demanded that there should be three kinds of workers — part-time, full-time and live-in (those staying in employers’ houses). There should be “wage card” for them like the job card, they had demanded.
