3 million women work as domestic help in urban India: UNESCO report

C Shivakumar

Chennai:

The domestic workers sector is said to have grown by 222 per cent since 1999-2000 and is the largest sector of female employment in urban India, involving approximately 3 million women, according to a UNESCO report Social Inclusion of Internal Migrants in India.

Stressing on the need to promote safe migration for women migrant workers, in particular domestic workers, who constitute a highly vulnerable and socially sensitive group, the report said that lack of education, experience and skills leaves them vulnerable to exploitation from illegal placement agencies and touts.

The report states that The National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector has estimated that out of four million domestic workers, 92 per cent are women, girls and children, and 20 per cent are under 14 years of age.

The report says that these figures are underestimated and that the number of domestic workers in the country could be much higher.

Interestingly, the report has also hit out at the Union government for the delay in clearing the draft bill “Domestic Workers Welfare and Social Security Act 2010”.

“The National Commission for Women (NCW) has drafted the bill to address issues pertaining to registration of domestic workers, provision of legal protection and minimum wages, prevention of trafficking and other forms of exploitation of women and children and regulation of placement agencies. However, this proposed legislation is yet to be passed in Parliament,” the report said.

The UNESCO report also stated that female migrants are less well represented in regular jobs and more likely to be self-employed than non-migrant women. Quoting government reports, it said that nearly 60 per cent of female migrants in rural areas were self-employed and 37 per cent were casual workers, whereas in urban areas, 43.7 per cent of women migrants were self-employed and 37 per cent were engaged in regular jobs.

“They are paid less than male migrants and enjoy no maternity leave, other maternity entitlements, or breast-feeding breaks at worksites. Lack of access to proper sanitation has serious health consequences but women and girls suffer in silence because of the stigma around women’s personal hygiene issues,” the report added.

The report also highlights that majority of migration from Tamil Nadu is to Maharashtra and Karnataka.