The All India Survey on Domestic Workers will cover all 742 districts in 37 states and Union Territories; its results are expected next year
According to an International Labour Organisation report, India officially employs as many as 4.75 million people as domestic workers. However, the true numbers, the ILO states is considered to be between 20 million to 80 million workers. AFP
The Centre on Monday rolled out the first All India Survey on Domestic Workers which will include all types of services like cooks, drivers, house-keeping, tutors and watchmen, covering 742 districts in 37 states and Union Territories.
Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav, while speaking at the launch of fieldwork of the survey, said that it was for the first time in Independent India that such a survey was being conducted and this showed the commitment of the government towards having an evidence-based, data-driven policy to help in targeted and last-mile delivery of services and achieve the goal of ‘Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas’ under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Here’s all you need to know about the survey.
The All India Survey on Domestic Workers
The aim of the All India Survey on Domestic Workers is to estimate the number of domestic workers, which includes all maids, cooks, babysitters, caretakers, tutors, watchmen, among others at a national and state level.
The survey will also provide the household estimates of live-in/live-out domestic workers and an average number of domestic workers engaged by different types of households.
The survey, according to the labour ministry, will cover 1,50,000 households and also a total of 6,190 villages.
As per a press release, the survey will collect information such as the domestic worker’s name, age, marital status, general education level. It will also ask for information regarding the household’s size, religion, social group and usual monthly consumption expenditure.
Additionally, the survey will collect information on the domestic worker’s age of entry, social group, migrant status, vocational training, the number of households they work at, the number of days they work and the duration of their work.
The result of the All-India Survey on Domestic Workers is expected within a year.
Domestic workers in India
Domestic workers constitute a significant portion of total employment in the informal sector.
According to the latest data on the e-Shram portal, around 8.8 percent of the registered 8.56 crore informal sector workers fall in the category of domestic workers.
Labour Secretary Sunil Barthwal said that domestic workers are the third-largest category of workers after agriculture and construction.
According to an International Labour Organisation report, India officially employs as many as 4.75 million people as domestic workers. However, the true numbers, the ILO states is considered to be between 20 million to 80 million workers.
The ILO report also highlights how the workers are slow to get recognition and there are no laws and policies to regulate and protect workers employed in this sector.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic made life doubly harder for domestic workers in the country. The ILO’s study showed that domestic workers were excluded from the economic and safety nets provided by the government during the COVID-19 -induced lockdown.
Benefits of the survey
Despite their numbers, the government lacks data on them, which led to the creation of the survey.
The Centre believes that such a survey will help them understand the issues pertaining to them and also guide them in making effective policies.
Experts also believe that if there was data available then policy-making would be easier and protecting domestic workers from exploitation would be easier.
With inputs from agencies
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