The Gharelu Kamgar Union (GKU) has accused the residents’ welfare associations here of imposing “highly discriminatory and condemnable directives” on domestic workers and has demanded an immediate intervention of the administration into the matter.
GKU convener Maya John, in a press statement, said that despite the easing of lockdown, the plight of domestic workers in Gurugram continued. “Several RWAs in the city have allowed the domestic workers to resume work, but such a move comes with highly discriminatory and condemnable directives aimed at purportedly containing the spread of COVID-19 infections,” said the statement.
The directives issued by the RWAs bar domestic workers from touching lift buttons and direct the employers to escort domestic workers to and from their respective flats, so that it can be ensured that they do not touch the buttons. Moreover, the guards have been directed to strongly monitor the movement of the domestic workers. “The most appalling directive at many residential societies is mandatory CBC blood test which is required to be done by the domestic workers, though this test is nowhere related to COVID-19. These directives highlight the way domestic workers are repeatedly being harassed by the RWAs,” said the statement.
The GKU has sent a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner that was also copied to the Chief Minister of Haryana and the Prime Minister. The GKU demanded that the Gurugram administration should immediately intervene to stop the harassment of domestic workers on trumped up pretexts. It should also ensure that the domestic workers were paid wages for the entire duration of lockdown when the domestic workers were forced out of work, it said.
