Findings of the Socio-Economic Survey of Domestic Workers in Pune – Maharashtra

Findings of the Socio-Economic Survey of Domestic Workers in Pune – Maharashtra

Socio-Economic Development of Maharashtra

Maharashtra is urbanizing at a great speed and more that 50% of its population is based in Metropolis, big or small cities and towns. The rural Maharashtra is going through a phase of severe agricultural crisis since early nineties. It has also seen an industrial disaster and closures of small and medium factories especially in the industrial areas of small towns which were employing large population of adjoining villages. This has resulted in a near exodus of rural population to the big metropolitan cities. This newly shifted population is illiterate or semi-literate and is unable to get any decent employment. So they enter the unorganized or informal sector which pays them poorly and does not give them any job security. The so called 'Head of the family' often crumbles in this situation and is attracted to various vices as a mean to escape from the burden of running the house. This has thrown the women of this deprived class also in the same job market which looks down upon them as they are even at a lower position as far as education and skill is concerned. At this critical juncture the only skill which they have exclusively inherited and which helps them getting a job immediately, without any formal training is the domestic work which they have been doing traditionally as home makers.

At the same time the middle class in urban areas has also expanded. The neo-liberal economic policies have created a class which has gone to the higher level of income and lifestyle. The challenge of maintaining the changed lifestyle of the family has pushed the middle class women out in the job market. The increased level of education in women of urban area has helped them a lot in getting a decent employment which demands a great amount of time which they have to spend to fulfill the challenges of the job as well as on traveling to and fro. The system of joint family has been affected by this changed lifestyle and has given birth to the nucleus family a long back. The double income has also resulted in acquiring professionally decorated bigger luxurious apartments which have to be kept in perfect shape as it has become a status symbol. The increased 'Party culture' has also added to the burden of hospitality  which was always a domain of the woman of the house. All these factors have contributed to the need of domestic assistance.

These two factors combined together have resulted in the phenomenal increase in the number of women seeking and getting employment as Domestic Workers in Maharashtra. Their number has been estimated at more than 1.5 millions now. This large volume has created a situation where there is competition as well as co-operation. Because most of the domestic workers are first or second generation migrants, they still have their roots in the rural area and many of them have to visit their village for social or economic purposes. During such visits they need replacements. There is also a tendency of the employers to employ more than one worker to do different chores. So workers staying or working in the same area have to interact with each other constantly. This interaction and dissatisfaction about their poor working condition, exploitation and lack of social security has induced them in organizing themselves.

Organisations of  Domestic Workers in Maharashtra

There were a few attempts to organize domestic  workers in Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur since two decades by independent organisations but they did not have strength to influence the government because they were limited to a certain geographical area within the city they operated, did not have a state level network and specific agenda aimed towards the policies of the government.

CITU's work in the sector of Domestic Workers

CITU decided to work among the domestic workers in a big way at the state level in 2002, though it was already working informally in many districts. Its sister organisation 'All India Democratic Women's Association' was working among them since eighties. Both the organisations decided to formalize their activities among the domestic workers and they started registering their Unions under the Trade Union Act in district after district. Pune pioneered in this and registered an Union 'Pune Zilla Ghar Kamgar Sanghatana' in 2004, followed by Nasik, Solapur, Aurangabad, Nanded, Jalna, Mumbai-Navi Mumbai, Wardha, Ahemednagar, Nagpur, Chandrapur, Amaravati, Kolhapur; Parbhani and Satara, Sangali, Dhule, Beed, Jalgaon, Gondia are on the way to register their Unions. The figure of the districts may cross 20 and total membership50,000 by the end of 2007.

All the organisations announced to form a state level Body in their first state level convention held in Pune on 27th August 2005 attended by more than 5000 domestic  workers and formed a State Co-Ordination Committee in the first conference attended by the representatives of all the registered Unions of domestic  workers, held in Nasik on 5th August 2006.

Socio-Economic Survey of the Domestic Workers

All the CITU affiliated Unions fill up a detailed survey form at the time of membership and all the details are computerised in a specially prepared Software called 'Kamwali Bai'. More than 35,000 domestic  workers have been registered in the State, among them are the 20,000 are from Pune. Nearly half of the forms filled up in Pune have been Computerised and analysed. Analysis of the 9,716 forms is available now and further analysis will also be done in near future.

Report of the Survey of the Domestic Workers

The points on which details have been collected are – Their personal information about age, education, religion, caste, marital status, physical and health problems, operations if any, savings in banks or self help group, insurance, debts taken through private or public sources, ration-cards; information about the family members i.e.  Number of children, education, occupation, income, addictions and information about their work i.e. names and addresses of all the employers, hours spent in each household, chores done, number of rooms, persons and wages paid etc. Though conclusions can be drawn on many more aspects, we will concentrate on the important socio-economic features.

Analysis of information about Age and Education –

Distribution according to Age				Distribution according to Education
Age (years)	Number of Workers	Percentage		Education	Number of Workers	Percentage
Below 14	11	0.11		Illiterate	5594	57.58
15 – 30	2752	28.32		Neo-literate	781	8.01
31 – 45	4691	48.28		Primary	1239	12.75
46 – 60	1792	18.51		Secondary	2046	21.06
61 – 70	401	4.13		10-12 Pass	44	0.45
Above 70	63	0.65		Graduates	5	0.05
Total	9716	100.00		Total		100.00

 It can be clearly seen from the above tables that the percentage of domestic workers in the age group of 15 to 45 is the maximum i.e. 76.06.  Many young women are joining this sector because they are deprived of any other productive and meaningful employment by the neo liberal economic policies that are perused in our country. The percentage of women aged above 61 is nearly 5 and it is to be noted that some women above 70 are still working. Due to lack of any social security measure like old age pension, they have to continue working even after their capacity to work is affected because of ageing.

The percentage of illiterate women is very high among the domestic workers i.e. 57 %. One thing is significant that 8 percent domestic workers have tried to gain literacy and are now neo literates. This shows that given the opportunity, they are ready to expand their knowledge. The existence of women with S.S.C., H.S.C. and Graduation shows the level of unemployment in our country and the desperation of women to earn something so they can provide food, shelter and education to their children is very high. The tables of income are given below. If we compare the tables of education and income, we can see a clear relation between them. We will now analyse the monthly income of domestic  workers and the hourly wages given by the households. 

Analysis of Monthly income and hourly wages –

Distribution according to Monthly Income of Domestic Workers				Distribution according to hourly Wages given by the Employers (Households)
Monthly income (Rs)	Number of Workers	Percentage		Wages per Hour  ( Rs)	Number of Households	Percentage
0 –1000	7026	72.31		Less than Rs. 3.50	3014	15.06
1001 – 2000	1820	18.73		3.50 – 6.50	5800	28.99
2001 – 3000	364	3.75		6.50 – 9.50	6274	31.36
3001 – 4000	75	0.77		9.50 – 12.50	2903	14.51
4001 – 5000	20	0.21		More than 12.50	2011	10.05
Total	9716	100.00		Total	20002	100.00

It is  very significant that the sub-total of illiterate, neo literate and women having primary level education i.e. barely literate is 78.34  while the percentage of women earning up to Rs. 1000 is 72.31 and between Rs.1001 to 2000 is another 18.73. This shows that the lack of education is definitely a factor which contributes to the low level of income besides other main factors. The domestic work was never considered a productive and gainful economic activity and it has always remained an unpaid, unvisible and thankless work exclusively done by the 'housewives'. Low status the work itself is the main factor responsible for the low wages of the domestic workers. The other factors are lack of coverage by the Labour Laws such as Minimum Wages Act and lack of organisation which can fight for their rights and have some influence on the policies of the government. The table also shows that only 1 percent domestic workers earn more than Rs.3000. But the fact that they can earn up to Rs. 5000 shows that if their level of education or skill can be enhanced, they can enter the section of domestic workers who have a reasonable income.

The need to earn more becomes even more significant from the fact that there is a high percentage of the women who are either sole bread earners or contribute more than 50 percent to the Gross Family Income whether married or unmarried. The tables of given below analyses the volume of domestic workers who contribute significantly towards their Family Income. 81 percent domestic workers make more than 50 percent contribution to the Gross Family Income.

Analysis of Marital Status and the Percentage of Contribution of Domestic Workers in Gross Family Income –

Marital Status				Percentage of Contribution in Gross Family Income
Marital Status	Number of Workers	Percentage		Contribution of the Domestic Workers	Number of Workers	Percentage
Unmarried	178	1.83		100 Percent	3123	37.34
Widowed	2552	26.27		75 Percent	905	10.82
Deserted	643	6.62		50 Percent	2743	32.82
Divorced	91	0.94		Sub-total of 50-100 %	6761	80.98
Married	6252	64.33		25 Percent	1591	19.02
Total	9716	100.00		Total	8352	100.00

The fact that most of the domestic workers come from the lower social strata can be seen from the table given below. 65.70 percent domestic workers belong to the deprived section of the society consisting of Dalits, Tribals, OBC and Minorities. The percentage of the Tribals will be more in the predominantly Tribal district.

Analysis of  Social Classification of Domestic Workers –

Social Classification of Domestic Workers
Social Strata	Number of Workers	Percentage
Scheduled Caste (Dalits)	2514	25.87
Scheduled Tribes (Adiwasis)	112	1.15
Other Backward Castes	2766	28.47
Minorities	983	10.12
Others (Savarnas)	3333	34.30
Total	9716	100.00

The need for a skill enhancement Programme

The new section of the middle class as we discussed in the paper is double salaried and have all the amenities and modern gadgets in their luxurious apartments. They have everything that money can buy but do not have time and inclination to run the expensive gadgets. The standard of domestic service they expect is very high. They are also ready to pay higher wages if they get what they expect. It is obvious that such highly professional service can not be given without proper training. The role of the organisations working among domestic workers will have to be modified according to the changing times. Continuing with the present agenda of struggle against exploitation and for coverage of Labour Laws and Social Security, they also have to cater to the needs of the domestic  workers to gain acumen of the new challenges they have to face while performing their daily routine.

Future plan of Pune Zilla Ghar Kamgar Sanghatana (PZGKS) regarding Training Centre

PZGHS has registered more than 26,000 domestic workers in Pune and has recorded all the details about them and given them Photo-Identity Cards. We have segregated them according to the education and making preparations for setting up a Training Centre. We have identified cadres who can take exlusive responsibility of the Training. Detailed Project will be planned and implemented within 6 months. Short term part time certificate courses will be started in different areas with a concentrated population of domestic  workers.