“Dogs and Indians not allowed,” read a chilling sign at the Pahartali European Club in the 1930s. Decades later, a new form of exclusion persists in India. An unwritten rule now governs urban spaces, proclaiming: “No domestic workers allowed.”
Saroja, a domestic worker in Bangalore, shares her reality: “Residents take their dogs in the lift and let them walk in the garden. But we are shooed away by security guards.”
Nagamma, a 63-year-old asthma sufferer, recalls being forced to climb seven floors because she wasn’t allowed to use the lift. “Eighty-four steps at a time! I had to quit,” she says.
This discriminatory treatment underscores the struggles faced by India’s domestic workers. Caste, class, and societal biases reduce them to invisibility, resulting in abuses ranging from underpayment and forced labour to physical violence.
A vital role in the economy
Despite the hardships, domestic workers form the backbone of India’s “tiger economy.” They enable middle-class housewives to pursue careers by taking over household chores. However, their labour remains undervalued.
Statistics show that 73% of working Indian women are illiterate or have only a primary-level education. For many, domestic work is the only option. Yet, wages are meagre and often deducted for sick days or leaves, as Rajkumari, a domestic worker from Kanpur, explains: “When we fall sick, our wages are cut. When we return, the workload doubles.”
In Kanpur, domestic workers struggle with malnutrition and chronic diseases while earning far below a living wage. Meenu Sur, general secretary of the Domestic Women Workers’ Union (Gharelu Mahila Kamgar Union), notes, “There is no minimum wage here. The average pay barely covers food expenses.”
Father Chetan Chandra of the National Domestic Workers Movement highlights the core issue: “The biggest problem is the non-recognition of their labour and the lack of minimum wages.”
The role of discrimination
Caste and class biases compound these challenges. Lower-caste workers are often deemed “dirty” and relegated to household chores. Saraswathy from Karnataka recounts her employer’s mistrust: “Even after I bathe, my employer insists on seeing water dripping from my hair.”
Discrimination extends to sanitation. Workers are often barred from using the toilets inside the houses they clean. Lakshmi, who works in a ninth-floor apartment in Bangalore, is forced to take stairs to ground-floor toilets despite suffering from arthritis. The result? Widespread urinary tract infections and mental stress, says Vahidha Nizam of the All India Trade Union Congress.
For many Bangladeshi immigrant workers in Delhi, even their names and traditional attire must be altered to gain employment. This erasure of identity further highlights the indignities they face.
Organising for change
On International Domestic Workers’ Day, global organisations like the International Domestic Workers Federation and the International Trade Union Confederation join Indian unions to push for the ratification of International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 189, which recognises domestic workers’ rights.
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Unionisation remains a challenge. “Domestic workers work in isolation from others, making collective bargaining difficult,” says Manali Shah, national secretary of the Self-Employed Women’s Association. Despite this, unions in 13 Indian states are fighting for better conditions.
Progress is slow but visible. Seven Indian states have introduced minimum wages for domestic workers, and ten states have established welfare boards to register placement agencies. However, India lags behind globally, with 21 countries having ratified Convention 189, while India has yet to act.
A call for dignity
Veena Singh, president of the India National Trade Union Congress Women’s Committee, believes policies are not enough without proper implementation. Meanwhile, Champa Verma of the Hind Mazdoor Sabha argues that societal attitudes must shift. “Using terms like ‘domestic help’ instead of ‘servant’ won’t change anything unless society recognises them as workers.”
The struggle for domestic workers in India is emblematic of broader societal issues of caste, class, and gender. As India observes Domestic Workers’ Day, the question remains: How long will millions of women continue to work in the shadows?
