Women’s Day: No cards or roses, just another day of toil for house helps
Domestic workers still struggle for empowerment, grappling with job insecurity, low salaries, pay cuts, no leave and often, domestic violence at home
Lucknow Renu, 25, a domestic help, doesn’t know what the International Women’s Day is. For her, life is the same throughout the year, full of struggles. She might be the reason for calmness for many families where she works, but taking “rest” is a distant dream for her.
Concepts of weekly off, sick leave or maternity leave is are a dream for her.
Absence from work means a pay cut , which is of course, devoid of any structured slab. Working across three households, Renu earns just ₹5000 per month, not enough to raise her three kids properly and take care of their education.
Renu is not alone, as in Lucknow itself the number of women working as domestic helpers is estimated to be around 3 lakh.
Like Renu, many other women from her community staying in different small slums or vacant plots in the city areas, have a similar story to share.
Renu said she was asked to quit her previous job as she fell ill and had to spend over a couple of weeks recuperating. “Despite the extreme weather conditions, I am not supposed to stay at home and I seldom take breaks because the fear of losing my job looms large,” she said.
Highlighting the plight of women domestic helpers, Madhu Garg, national joint secretary of AIDWA (All India Democratic Women’s Association) said undoubtedly there could be roughly over 3 lakh such domestic workers in the city.
She cited agri-crisis as the main reason behind the huge surge of women domestic helpers . “These women who are from villages are unaware of the minimum wages. Thus, people here often exploit them. They are subjected to long working hours and do not get any proper leave. In case they fall ill and take a break, they are asked to quit,” she said .
“Women are coming to the city from nearby districts such as Barabanki, Bahraich, Sitapur and a large number is from Bihar,” she said .
Stressing on the issue of migration, Guru Prasad, state coordinator, India Labour Line, said, “In my opinion, MNREGA was the best scheme that allowed the village economy to grow and stopped the migration to cities to a considerable extent. Even the wages in MNREGA are much better as compared to what these women get.”.
Another domestic help Meena, a single mother of two school-going kids, who lives in a shanty in Chinhat, said, “Kaam to karna hi padta hai. Nahi to bachchon ko kaise padhayenge (I have to work, otherwise how can I send my kids to school).”
“I have to work in two shifts to make the ends meet. From morning till evening, I do chores in different houses and then I work as a caretaker in a private hospital in the night shift,” she said, with a tired look on her face.
“Staying in small shanties, with their husbands engaged in menial jobs, these women lose so much of energy by the age of 40 to 45 years that they are unable to carry on with their work. What happens then?” asked Garg.
Expressing similar concern, Dr Rakesh Chandra, professor in Lucknow University, said, ‘“They belong to an unorganised sector and unlike their male counterparts, these women are ready to work for the lowest wages. Post covid, after many men lost their jobs, the onus fell on these women to earn livelihood. With most men still jobless, the scenario is bleak as apart from facing exploitation on the work front, these women are also subjected to domestic violence at home by their husbands who often get addicted to alcohol.”
Speaking of the best remedies for bringing some positive changes in their lives, he said they should at least get some recognition. “We also need an institutional arrangement for them and a union where their problems may be addressed. They also need to be trained properly as it is quite weird to think that ‘ladki hai to khana to banana ata hi hoga’. The government should also make sure that they are inducted in the mainstream and that they get their Aadhaar cards, ration cards and other government benefits. Most importantly, please ensure that their kids get proper education and last but not the least, their jobless husbands should be immediately given employment,” he said.
Guru Prasad considers provision of social security of utmost importance for such women. “After the Covid pandemic, an e-shram portal was formed in which 8.29 crore labourers from unorganised sector in Uttar Pradesh have registered themselves. “Out of these, 53% are women, including those working as domestic help,” he said.
“Unfortunately, many women do not know about the helpline (18008339020) where they can call if they face any exploitation at workplace or they are not paid properly. At our level, we are putting up posters for awareness, distributing pamphlets and also holding camps at labour addas. But this is not enough. The government must ensure social security for them,” he said.