Laws Alone Not Enough, Domestic Workers Deserve Rights And Dignity: Experts

Laws alone are not sufficient if people make no effort to treat domestic workers as workers with rights like any other, experts said at a discussion held by the National Platform of Domestic Workers (NPDW) in Delhi.

Michiko Miyamoto, the India director of the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO), heard testimonies of domestic workers who highlighted issues such as non-payment of wages, discrimination, physical and sexual harassment, and absence of workers' rights.

Miyamoto commended the NPDW for not only taking forward the issues of domestic workers, but for giving them a public voice as they are otherwise invisible, the workers' body said in a statement.

Experts at the discussion agreed that rights for domestic workers need a change of heart in society in general because the society - while dependent on domestic workers - looks down on them.

Deepangkar Guha, Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, highlighted the importance and need for a national law to protect domestic workers. He said several private members bills have been presented to the government, and so it should keep its commitment to 'Convention 189', which India had signed.

Convention 189 or the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 is an international treaty by the ILO that sets up standards for decent work for domestic workers globally.

Domestic workers have been demanding a law for decades and at least 17 draft bills have been developed and some presented in parliament. These bills have progressively developed in their scope and the one developed by the NPDW is also comprehensive, experts said.

A panel of employers' associations representing both employers of domestic workers and the industrial sector pointed at the new draft labour policy of the government, which it said is meant to be inclusive but has nothing for domestic workers.

ILO specialist Ravindran Pieres said the employers associations have made a pledge to take forward protections for domestic workers. The chairperson of the Women and Child Commission also agreed there is a need for a law for domestic workers and also called for their protection under the POSH Act.

Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi, chair of the National Human Rights Commission, stressed on the need for a comprehensive law for domestic workers, while MP Senthil said he would take the campaign for a comprehensive law forward.