SHILLONG, DEC 4: Around 600 cases of physical and sexual abuse against the domestic workers from 2003 to 2015 have been registered as per the North East Region Domestic Workers Movement (NERDWM) data with 1000 cases of financial abuse in Meghalaya.
NERDWM programme coordinator W Kharsyntiew also told reporters at a news conference on Friday that from 2005 onwards 150 to 200 cases of children in domestic work have been rescued adding that such cases have gradually dropped in 2014-2015.
Kharsyntiew said, “Therefore, we want to pressurize the centre to come up with a comprehensive national legislation for protecting the rights of the domestic workers to ensure they are free from all forms of exploitations.”
Domestic workers in Meghalaya want the union government to legislate a national policy for protecting their rights and also to ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 189, of which India is a signatory in 2011.
They have also demanded that the state government consider having a separate fixation of wages for the domestic workers.
“India till now has no special law to really ensure the rights of the domestic workers, who are also important section of the society,” Kharsyntiew informed.
Demanding the ratification of the ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers adopted in 2011 by the union government, Kharsyntiew said, “Out of 21 countries who have agreed to adopt the resolution of the convention held in 2011, India has so far failed to implement ILO Convention despite it having signed in favour of the convention.”
Kharsyntiew also informed that Meghalaya has also taken part in the nationwide signature campaign to pressurize the central government to implement the ILO convention, which is also legally binding instrument and to come up with a national policy for protection of the domestic workers.
“In Meghalaya alone, we have collected as many as 25, 000 signatures during a campaign held in the city recently,” Kharsyntiew said while informing the over 5 lakh signatures have been collected by different states from across the country.
Kharsyntiew said, “These signatures will be submitted to the different MPs, National Human Rights Commission and National Commission for Schedule Tribe/Schedule Caste during the upcoming national campaign to be held in New Delhi from December 7 to 9.”
“A 22 states delegation including from Meghalaya and Nagaland will also try to meet the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Labour and Employment Union Minister on the matter,” Kharsyntiew informed.
Stating the movement is also about raising issues pertaining to the state, Kharsyntiew said, “We are demanding the state government to have separate fixation of wages for the domestic workers by setting up a Domestic Workers Welfare Board.”
According to her, domestic workers are proposing a minimum wage of Rs 250 per day since the present revised minimum wage as fixed by the government is too less.
On the other hand, Kharsyntiew lamented that the state government is yet to categorize the domestic workers as to whether they fall under unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled or highly skilled categories of workers while other states have included domestic workers under the minimum wage act.-By Our Reporter
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