The domestic helpers who come under the unorganised working sector are devoid of most of their basic rights. There are no beneficial schemes at present under the State Government to ensure the welfare and well-being of the domestic helpers. In the name of social security a lone Rashtriya Swastha Bima Yojna has been implemented.
“For the domestic workers there is one health insurance programme under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna. There are no other programmes right now. Minimum wage of `6,000 for the domestic helpers is being discussed. Till now no fund has been allotted so it is not being implemented,” said Vishnu Kumar Principal Secretary of labour, Employment and Training department.
“As of now no registration is done for these workers and there no awareness programmes for the domestic helpers,” he added. The plight of the domestic workers in the city is pitiable. This section of the society gets underpaid and is largely exploited due to no refuge provided by the State Government till date. And in most of the cases the workers are unaware of their exploitation and negligence on their part by the Government.
“I get `800 per month for working one time (in the morning) for seven days a week. I don’t get anything else from the house owners,” said Sarita Devi a house maid who works in the colonies of the city. She could not demand the same rights and entitlements as of any other employed person.
A large number of people from the State either migrate or are being trafficked to the metropolitan cities to work as domestic helpers. There is no registration done for these workers. Since there is no registration process the whereabouts of the workers could not be tracked.
The unregistered workers live with the uncertainty of their job and are devoid of claiming fair remuneration for the services they provide. Already deprived of the social security measures these workers also become easy target for mental and physical abuses.
At least 12,000 to 14,000 girls from Jharkhand are trafficked every year to work as domestic helpers in the metropolitan cities. Around 10 per cent of the girls go missing and only 20 to 25 girls could be brought back to their families, as being told by the State Coordinator of ATSEC Sanjay Kumar Mishra.
Due to the lack of awareness and poor implementation of the measures taken by the government at the grassroot level no substantial result could have been achieved in regard of these workers.
“We get many cases of physical and mental violence of domestic helpers. Many women come to us. We take them to women police station or Mahila Ayog. lack of security and no proper representation are the major reasons behind these issues,” said Aloka a social worker in Ranchi.
There are few groups in the city who work for the rights of domestic workers. But these groups can cover only a small portion of the large majority of such workers. They provide domestic helpers to the houses under the terms and conditions meant for the benefit and security of the workers.
“We provide maids to the houses and do registration of it. We have registered around 200-250 household workers. We set some terms and condition for the social security of the domestic helpers. We set the minimum wage for house workers doing different types of jobs. The amount varies from 3,500 to 7,000 per month. We ask the house owner for having humanitarian behavior toward the maids like proper sleeping areas, same food, and compulsory leave during festivals like Christmas and Diwali,” said sister Jemma who runs an organization for helping the domestic workers. “Most of the times we get the reports of violence and physical abuse. In these circumstances we take back the maid and ask for compensation or file case, as the case may be,” she added.