Guwahati: Under the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Convention 189, a domestic worker is “any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship”. Domestic workers perform their work within their employers’ households, such as cooking, cleaning, childcare, elder care, gardening and other household work.
An awareness and animation programme on domestic workers was held at CDI, on July 30. It was organised by the Guwahati unit of CRI. Fr.John Parankimalil SDB, the president of CRI Guwahati unit, Sr. Catherine Kannampuzha FMA, Fr. Saji SSps, Fr. K.J. Jose, SVD and several persons participated in the event.
Fr. John, in his welcome address, stated that the plight of domestic workers and the need to ensure their welfare.
Sr. Molly MSMHC, in her address, said that “It is a fact that domestic workers make up the greatest percentage of labor trafficking cases. Domestic workers are explicitly excluded from labor protection mechanisms and females make up a large majority of this population.”
Sr. Rose Paite MSMHC, the director of CDI, with her team enlightened the participants on various challenges faced by domestic workers. “Migration from rural areas to big cities typically occurs due to debt, poverty, death in the family, lack of rural employment opportunities and the glamour of city life. In domestic work, organised trafficking is taking place as villagers living in the cities are returning to their native places to bring more women, girls and children into this labour sector,” she added.
Fr. Tom Mangattuthazhe from NESCOM spoke of the influence, and use of media platforms for human trafficking.
Sr Lydia FMA summed up the deliberations, following are the recommendations:
Ratify ILO convention 189 to recognise the rights and dignity of domestic workers.
Register domestic workers as workers with protection under national labour laws
Include domestic workers in the schedule of employment with defined minimum wages.
Constitute functional welfare boards for domestic workers to implement minimum wages
Include domestic workers in social security schemes like pensions, maternity benefits and medical claims.
Offer skills training programmes and qualifications to domestic workers.
Make grievance and dispute redressal accessible to domestic workers
Stop child labour through provisions that ensure access to education for all children
