The world is not 'maid ' for you, Maa !

          I am Pinki. I study in class 4^th.I go to school everyday because I want to be a big person one day. My favourite subject is Maths. My father is a labourer. He goes to work every morning. He comes home tired and shouts on us but that's okay, he is the main bread-earner. I study during day and help my mother with her chores at home in the evening. I want to help my family with income by completing my studies and doing a good job. But this is not about me. This is about my mother. My mother’s name is Sushma . She is a domestic worker at Saxenas, Sinhas , Mehtas, Shrivastavas and many more houses. She gets up at 5 am , prepares my two other sisters and me for school, makes lunch for us, packs food for Papa , does her daily chores of mopping the floor and washing utensils and after sending all of us to our work, she herself embarks on to her daily , hackneyed job.
         My mother is illiterate .She says it is a curse for her. She is not treated well by the society and I don’t like that. The aunties who employ her lambaste her if she doesn’t work up to their expectations. She doesn’t enjoy holidays on major festivals like Holi and Diwali like we do. Instead she has to work longer than usual during festivals. I have never seen her taking a break and giving time to herself. 

         Papa usually comes drunk at night because he says he has a lot of tension and alcohol is a way to attain peace for him. He often beats Maa when she disobeys him. I don’t like to see my Mother’s pillow soaked in tears overnight. Still she gets up, mustering the supressed, crushed , sobbing valour, like an iron lady to face the enemies all over again . When I sometimes ask her the cause of her plight, she smiles and lifts me up on her lap to say, “Complete your education and do something fruitful. The world will be at your feet. You little doll! You won’t understand what I mean now but some years later, you will know it all."
       This is the reality of life for not just Sushma, but thousands of other female domestic workers across the country. According to a Cabinet document about a draft national policy for domestic workers reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, domestic work is the largest female occupation in urban India. According to data from the ministry of labour and employment, the number of domestic workers in India vary from 4.75 million (Employment and Unemployment National Sample Survey 61st round, 2004-5) to 6.4 million (Census 2001). The data might be under-reported as domestic work is yet to be treated as ‘real’ work at many places, concede both NSS as well as census reports. This is one of the major reasons as to why domestic work largely remains ‘undeclared’.

        “The main issues that concern domestic workers are: lack of decent wages and work conditions, no defined work time, no weekly offs, loneliness, violence, abuse and sexual harassment in the workplace among others,“ the Cabinet note said.

Most domestic workers are from the marginalized sections of society and a large number of them are migrant workers. Workers range from full-time to part-time workers, skilled and unskilled workers.
         The root cause of all these troubles is illiteracy. Had these workers been given the basic education, they would not have been taken advantage of by their employers. Several studies have shown that a lower level of women literacy rates results in higher levels of fertility and infant mortality, poorer nutrition, lower earning potential and the lack of an ability to make decisions within a household. Women's poor educational level is also shown to adversely affect the health and living conditions of children. A survey that was conducted in India showed results which support the fact that infant mortality rate was inversely related to female literacy rate and educational level .The survey also suggests a correlation between education and economic growth.

         In India, it was found that there is a large disparity between female literacy rates in different states and regions. For example, while Kerala actually has a female literacy rate of about 86 percent, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have female literacy rates around 55-60 percent. Furthermore, the disparity of female literacy rates across rural and urban areas is also significant in India. Out of the 24 states in India, 6 of them have female literacy rates of below 60 percent. Rajasthan has a female literacy rate of less than 12 percent.

        Several positive steps are being taken in this direction to grant these female domestic workers the status and respect of a normal citizen. Tamil Nadu included domestic workers in their Manual Workers Act and created a separate board for them while Maharashtra is actively considering a law for them, with draft bills under discussion. Maharashtra has published a code of conduct. Under Section 27 (A) of the Maharashtra State Public Service Conduct Act, 1997, the Maharashtra government prohibits government employees from employing children below 14 as domestic workers. Such rules can be found in the rule books of 18 other states. Karnataka has notified minimum wages for domestic workers and Kerala has followed the suit. The Government of India has amended the Central Civil Service Conduct rules to prohibit Civil Servants from employing children below the age of 14 as domestics.

        The latest in a series of efforts to address the concerns of Domestic Workers are the two draft bills brought out in 2008 by the National Commission for Women and the National Campaign Committee of Unorganised Sector Workers also in 2008.

Literacy is the key to empower women of the country. Patriarchy has to end and give way for many Iron ladies like Sushma to rise and shine , without fear of being chained down by the shackles of the so-called superior gender.

The sun will rise from West

The mountains will move

The rivers will change the course

When the women of the country will be educated.

-Shivani Saxena