A demand for the Tamil Nadu government to enact a separate legislation to regulate and protect domestic workers in Tamil Nadu was the focus of a State-level consultation organised by the Tamil Nadu Domestic Workers Welfare Trust (TNDWWT) and the National Domestic Workers Movement (NDWM) in the city, on Saturday.
Sr. Valarmathi, chief functionary, TNDWWT, said this was a new journey for them in ensuring that a State legislation was put in place, and they had sought inputs from experts through the consultation for the same. In their demand, the TNDWWT has asked for legislation to address minimum wages, working hours, terms of employment, duties of the employer, regulation of placement agencies and protection and penalties for violations.
Delivering the Keynote address, Justice S. Baskaran, Chairperson, Tamil Nadu State Human Rights Commission, said, “As the birth anniversary of ‘Periyar’ E.V. Ramasamy is observed as Social Justice Day, today is a very significant day for the consultation to take place.”
He pointed out that from fixing work hours to ensuring domestic workers get proper wages for the work they do, a lot of areas needed focus. “In many cases, when domestic workers stay in the houses where they work, there is no proper time for rest allotted. This will impact both their physical and mental health, and these are basic rights that are often denied to them,” he said. He further spoke about the protection for domestic workers, and also highlighted the need for women in unorganised sectors to be eligible for benefits when they have to take maternity leave.
A.S. Kumari. Chairperson of the Tamil Nadu State Commission for Women, and Esther Mariaselvam, associate director, ActionAid Association, were among those who spoke at the event.
