Enact central legislation recognizing domestic workers as workers: Nagarkurnool MP urges Centre

Nagarkurnool MP Mallu Ravi on Monday (March 23) urged the Central government to enact a comprehensive central legislation recognizing domestic workers as workers ensuring minimum wages, regulated work conditions, social security and accessible redressal mechanisms.

During the Zero Hour in Lok Sabha, he spoke on the plight of domestic workers across India, exploitation faced by them, lack of basic work conditions and status of the current welfare mechanisms.

Mr. Ravi said that they constitute one of the largest and most invisible segments of work force, with the majority of them being women from marginalised and economically vulnerable backgrounds, who sustain households. However, he said that domestic workers face systemic exploitation, lack of written contract, undefined work hours, arbitrary dismissal, wage theft, denial of basic rights such as weekly rest and leaves.

He said that they remain outside effective enforcement frameworks and their workplaces are beyond reach of welfare inspections.

Besides a comprehensive central legislation, the MP urged the Centre to ratify and implement ILO Convention 189. Sister Lissy Joseph, Telangana convenor of National Platform of Domestic Workers (NPDW) — who met the MP last week — urged the Telangana government to take initiatives and responsibility for welfare of domestic workers.