Published Paper Details:

Domestic workers are an indispensable part of the everyday lives of a large segment of India's urban population. However, in the absence of a national policy to recognise the specific nature of domestic work, their categorisation as 'workers' is merely theoretical. This issue brief highlights the isolated nature of domestic work in India, with particular reference to legislative and social issues, which keep them at bay from availing their rights as 'recognised workers'. There has been a significant increase in the number of women domestic workers in India in recent times. The domestic service is now accepted as an important category of livelihood. The domestic labour debate was particularly prominent in the western academia amongst feminists in the 1960s and 1970s. The steep decline in agrarian produce and livelihood security in rural areas has caused migration of rural people to urban areas. The number of women domestic workers is constantly growing in the informal sector of urban India. Domestic work has remained unorganized, unrecognized and unrewarding for the domestic workers. The domestic workers are denied of minimum wages, healthy work period, safe working conditions and other benefits in the absence of trade unions and state intervention. The women domestic workers do not have support networks and civil society support under the existing circumstances. They experience exploitative situations and multi-faceted abuses. The national and international legal instruments are largely ineffective under the existing circumstances