Astha Sharma & Kuldeep Lakwal
ABSTRACT
A usual day of an urban household in India starts with a ‘didi’ or ‘aunty’ who in the early hours of the mornings comes to do their domestic chores, and without whom one’s usual day becomes quite unusual. Domestic workers form an essential part of our everyday life, and yet they remain invisible, unrecognised, and unadorned. The term ‘domestic worker’ includes any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship, such as cleaning of utensils, sweeping and mopping, housekeeping, cooking, gardening, caring of children, old-age care, driving, and any other work that may be carried out for an employer for remuneration. Their work may be limited from a few households to large businesses and corporates. They form a significant portion of the workforce in the informal sector worldwide.
However, in spite of the crucial work performed by these workers in India’s day-to-day lives, they are given very limited protections at their workplace against the abuse of their rights. This leads to their mass exploitation by households and businesses – with many domestic workers being unpaid or underpaid, hanging under wavering job security, with little to no knowledge of available legal remedies. To hide from the prying eyes of their employers and not attract much attention, many of them choose to stay quiet when their rights are infringed. Against this backdrop, this article discusses working conditions and vulnerabilities of domestic workers in India, and brings to the forefront the laws, policies, and judicial pronouncements made for them at the central and state level to safeguard their rights. The article also highlights gaps in the legal protection space of domestic workers and proposes some suggestions to bridge the same.
