Poonam Singh, Preeti Singh, Vanshika Tewari and Pragya Ojha
Abstract
The tendency of domestic works is not only very significant but also underestimated in the Indian households and they form the backbone of the activities of social and semi social realm of the urban and semi-urban regions. They are at other times not present in policymaking and social discourse despite the fundamental services that they offer. This paper attempts to discuss the twisted political economy of domestic workers in the setting of India: the social image, rights to law, and life of domestic workers, and most importantly women in oppressed groups. The majority of the domestic workers in India are women who have moved to the urban centers to gain an opportunity in finding means of livelihood since they no longer have such means of livelihood in the countryside. Such workers are usually engaged in the domestic chores like cleaning, cooking, baby sitting and the aged. On numerous occasions, their output is however undermined as non skilled and informal, hence affects their bargaining power, wages and the terms of employment. The structure of caste, class and gender is deep-rooted in social perception of domestic work and lack of respect and desire to treat them as equal workforce are the general attitude to their work. Legal measures have not been united and strengthened with regards to domestic workers in India. Though there is a certain state that has already adopted certain form of welfare board and welfare policy, the state itself lacks a national regulation that would ensure good wages, controlled working hours, guaranteed job and a mechanism that would deter exploitation and abuse of labor. Moreover, the domestic workers mostly do not know that they actually have few rights due to ignorance; therefore, they become the targets of maltreatment. This work is also geared towards indicating the need to attain the realization of the domestic work as an official working relationship that is supposed to be handled with honor and guaranteed by the laws. Trade unions and international agencies along with the civil society organizations are slowly raising their voices that domestic workers should be covered under the laws of labor and should receive social security benefits. Sensitization of the employers and the population is also significant hence changing the social attitude that devalues domestic work. These facts are present in various ways: on one the one side, the economic insecurity, social exclusion, and even violence, which is exerted on the domestic workers is strongly juxtaposed to the generally cordial, yet servile terms into which the employer households are generally drawn.