“The dignity and security of millions of this essential workforce need protection”
Nueva Delhi: Sore by the legislative vacuum by protecting millions of house from the exploitation house, the Supreme Court ordered the government of the Union that constitutes an expert committee to write a legal framework to protect the dignity and security of It is huge and essential but not organized workforce and then not organized. promulgate a Pan-India law.
Based on his decision on a case of torture, exploitation and trafficking of domestic aid in Dehradun, which is generally unbridled throughout India, a bank of judges Southa Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan said: “The simple reason for this harassment and unbridled abuse , which seems, to prevail throughout the country, it is the legal vacuum that exists against the rights and protection of domestic workers. “
“In fact, domestic workers in India remain unprotected and without any comprehensive legal recognition. As a result, they often support low wages, insecure environments and extended hours without an effective resource, ”he said.
Writing the sentence of 37 pages and analyzing the legal position related to domestic assistance in foreign jurisdictions and recommendations of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Judge Kant said: “Beyond the absence of any legislation that protects their interests, Internal workers also find themselves excluded from existing labor laws as well. “
“These, among other things, include statutes such as the Salary Payment Law of 1936, the 1976 Remuneration Equality Law, sexual harassment of women in the workplace (prevention, prohibition and repair). 2015, etc. “, said.
SC referred to seven attempts from several governments in the last 66 years, as of 1959, to promulgate a law to safeguard the rights of domestic workers and offspring, which for a variety of reasons never materialized in tangible laws or policies .
These included the domestic workers’ bill (employment status), 1959; The workers’ bill of the House of Representatives (service conditions), 1989; Domestic companies and workers (service condition and well -being invoice), 2004; Domestic Workers Law (Registry, Social Security and Welfare), 2006; Domestic Workers Law (Decent working conditions), 2015; Project of Welfare Law of domestic workers, 2016; and bilcer (work regulation and social security) of domestic workers, 2017.
Judges Kant and Bhuyan also registered recent initiatives to improve the legal and social status of domestic workers in India – Salary Code, 2019, which guarantees minimum wages for domestic workers; Social Security Law of Un organized workers, 2008, which brought domestic workers within the scope of un organized workers and made them eligible for various benefits, such as Social Security, Health Insurance, the forecast fund and the maternity benefits; The introduction of the E-Shram portal in 2021 created a centralized database to register migrant/national/un organized workers to entitle the welfare schemes. He also said that Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Kerala have promulgated laws exclusively for domestic workers.
Declution of filling the legislative vacuum through a court order, as Vishaka’s sentence for the protection of women of sexual harassment in the workplace, Judge Kant led by the bank said: “We have our faith: we have our faith In the Legislature and elected representatives of the people of the people, to take the imperative steps to guarantee an equitable and dignified life for domestic workers. “
“We direct to the Ministries of – Labor and Employment, Social Justice and Empowerment, Development of Women and Children, and Law and Justice – to jointly constitute a committee that includes subject experts to consider the convenience of recommending a legal framework for the benefit, the protection and regulation. of the rights of domestic workers. “
While allowing the union government to decide the force and composition of the committee, the SC requested the panel to submit its report within six months. The Government would consider the “need to introduce a legal framework that can effectively address the cause and concern of domestic workers,” said the bank.
