domestic workers

Domestic workers are found in all urban and semi-urban households in India, and are yet invisible. Many domestic workers/care workers toil long hours, and are seen hurrying to their places of work as early as 5 am, be it rain, shine or the cold winter! At their workplace - the employer’s home - they face caste discrimination, sexual assault, have no social security, leave, protection or rights like other workers. With the gendered notion of housework, it's considered natural that domestic workers - majority of them women - should slave, and their work, like all housework, is devalued. Thousands of…

On May 20, Karnataka government announced COVID lockdown relief of Rs 2,000 for domestic workers under its Seva Sindhu scheme. But due to the tedious application process, only a tiny fraction of workers have been able to even apply online for the relief. As per a report in the Times of India, Karnataka is estimated to have 10 lakh domestic workers, but as of June 23, only 1.4 lakh of them had applied on the Seva Sindhu portal. There were only 23,552 applications from Bengaluru Urban district. To apply, domestic workers had to upload their passport size photo, BPL ration…

It was the first thing on her to-do list as restrictions eased with Lockdown 5. Manjula recharged her phone for Rs 400. “I may have to skip a meal for this” she laments as the expense eats into her non-existent savings. “But my Amma should be able to call now” is her hope as she waits for her employers to call her back to work.  Working as a domestic help has been more than a decade of Manjula’s life.  She turned up at homes everyday like clockwork, to clean them without a day off. She stayed behind to help when they…

In the first two weeks of May, a survey of over 2500 domestic workers in Bengaluru was conducted by us at Domestic Workers Rights Union (DWRU), Bruhat Bangalore Gruhakarmika Sangha (BBGS), and Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union. Some of the most startling findings from the survey are below: 2084 (about 87%) of the workers were told not to come for work since the lockdown in March, and were not sure if and when they would be called to work again. 341 workers in the areas surveyed by BBGS, and 150 workers in the areas surveyed by Manegelasa Kaarmikara Union, lost their jobs entirely…

Based on orders by the Centre's Ministry of Home Affairs on May 17, Karnataka government issued an order on lockdown measures applicable in the state till May 31. Here are the key highlights, as summarised by the Bangalore Apartments' Federation (BAF). Lockdown to continue with relaxations Lockdown will continue till May 31. However, this phase of lockdown is characterised by reasonable relaxations that would support day-to-day life coming back to normal, while certain high-risk activities would be restricted. Intra-city public transport to resume Local public transport mediums (except Metro rail) like BMTC buses, cabs (driver + 2 passengers) and autos…

  Caregivers, housekeepers, maids, nannies, cooks or domestic help - call them by any name, domestic workers in the country are still in the fringes. Why, one may ask? The phrase ‘domestic work’ conjures images of household work associated domesticity – the one of cleaning and caring, and hence relationships that exist within this frame remain in the shadows. There has always been a gendered stigma attached to domestic work especially in India, and the work is always viewed through the lens of power and authority, submission and suppression Of memsahib, her maid and India’s colonial past “This can be…

The Karnataka Domestic Workers Union has organised a protest against the employment of minors as Domestic Workers.  Time: Thursday August 21st, 3 30pm and 4 30pm Venue: Karmikara Bhavana, Bannerghatta Road The Karnataka Domestic Workers Union strongly condemns the recent attack on a child domestic  worker by her employers in Bangalore. We stand in solidarity with the girl who struggled for her life  for ten days at Vani Vilas hospital and demand that the employers are brought to justice. We stand for the right to life, dignity and education of every child and we demand that the girl is rehabilitated and…

Domestic workers protest. Pic: Navya P K An appeal from DWRCDear Sir/Madam, We are working closely with the Labour Department and will be collecting the data to enrol workers for RSBY health insurance. Our organisation is also part of the National Advisory Committee (NAC) task force on domestic workers at the centre and working on the draft policy for domestic workers. We request concerned Resident Welfare Associations for support and give us permission to collect the details, fill up the forms for the RSBY scheme. We have to complete our process by December 31st. -Geeta MenonDomestic Workers Rights Collective (DWRC)…

On 8 November, some apartment associations around Cubbon Park had domestic workers in their apartments profiled. Photographs, fingerprints and detailed information of the workers were recorded by a private agency. The profiling was organised by Cubbon Park police station. Domestic workers Protest Pic: Navya P K The private agency Hamari Suraksha in its website says that it is ‘rooting out domestic terror' through this procedure. This is supposed to prevent crimes committed by domestic workers and help the police track workers when there is a crime. We are not criminals The event sparked off a protest on 10 November by…

Citizen Matters did an article in March on the challenges of working mothers from the middle and upper middle class families. But what are the challenges faced by working mothers from the lower income group? Though on the face of it the challenges appear to be the same, these women have issues unique to their social setup. With husbands' incomes often not enough meet the expenses , women in low-income groups are compelled to work to support families. They juggle between managing work, home and motherhood, braving through social inequalities, chauvinism and glass ceilings to earn meager wages. Lost motherhood…