Dear Shri Santosh Gangwarji
[ Labour and Employment Minister ],
" National Policy for Domestic workers " was conceived some 5 YEARS ago ( in 2015 )
I suppose the DOMESTIC WORKERS SURVEY ( of 40 LAKH domestic workers ) that you announced a few days ago, is the foundation for such a policy
But , I am afraid , this Survey could end up being a damp squid !
I urge you to have a Public Debate on this issue before proceeding
You may even publish the proposed SURVEY FORM on your website and solicit PUBLIC RESPONSE re its desirability
You may want to seek opinion of LEGAL EXPERTS in INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS matters re the specific data proposed to be compiled
Domestic workers Survey : a Non-Starter ?
Context :
Labour Bureau to conduct 3 surveys to gauge employment situation
Extract :
The government in an endeavor to understand the issues concerning special segments of labour has entrusted Labour Bureau with the task of conducting three ambitious surveys," Gangwar said
The database will enable the government to devise pragmatic solutions to improve their conditions and plan employment opportunities for them
He also informed that to collect data on domestic workers, which constitute roughly 3 per cent of the workers in our country, a first of its kind survey on domestic workers will also be carried out by Labour Bureau.
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Considering that there are 4 million domestic workers to be surveyed, “ ambitious “ seems an under-statement , if we assume that the survey has to be completed in ( say ) 4 months
How many “ surveyors “ would be needed to survey 1 million households per month ? – assuming, each such domestic worker, works in ONE household only ( they usually work part-time in 3 / 4 households , which makes the survey, very complicated , in order to eliminate duplicate counting )
Apart from that ( logistics ) , a far more relevant issue is :
In absence of an appropriate law, obliging / mandating the householders to provide the information about the domestic worker engaged, how many “ employers “ are likely to volunteer such data ?
That would depend upon the data fields of the “ SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE “
Now consider the likelihood of that questionnaire asking following data
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DOMESIC WORKERS SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE
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[ A ] … EMPLOYER DATA
# Name / Aadhar No / Address / PAN
[ B ] …. “ DOMESTIC WORKERS ENGAGED “ DATA ( separately for each domestic worker engaged )
# Name of worker / Aadhar No / Address / Gender / Age / Jan Dhan Account Number / Photo
# Mode of hire ( direct or through some manpower supply agency )
# Working since ( date )
# Whether issued any formal “ appointment letter “
# Monthly salary / Annual Bonus amount
# Mode of salary payment ( Cash / Cheque / Digital transfer to bank account )
# Number of work-hours in a day
# Work timings
# Lunch-break / Tea break [ whether free lunch provided ]
# Weekly off day
# Paid Holidays per year
# Annual Privilege leave / Sick Leave / Casual Leave / leave without pay [ Maternity leave in case of female
workers ]
# Whether Uniform supplied
# Allowances if any ( Click “ Maid-in-India / 10 Aug 2015 “, for the list to be ticked, YES / NO )
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I am afraid, before opening the door to welcome the Surveyor, the house-holder would ask to see the questionnaire
Just a quick / cursory glance and he will say :
“ Thank you but we do not engage ANY domestic workers. My family members do all household chores “
Now you will appreciate, why I am afraid this proposed survey would become a Non-Starter !
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Could anything be done to “ motivate / incentivize “ the house-holders to enthusiastically come forward to supply the desired data ?
No solution would be without “ accompanying problems “, but would following suggestion help ?
Surveyor says :
“ Sir / Madam,
Government has just announced ( shows relevant circular from Finance Ministry ) that the total amount of money that you annually pay to your domestic servants ( by way of wages / bonuses / allowances etc ), is tax-deductible from your annual PERSONAL INCOME TAX RETURN
Of course , this exemption is conditional to your making ALL MONTHLY-ANNUAL payments , directly into the JAN DHAN ACCOUNTS of your domestic workers and subject to TDS “
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For kind attention of :
Dear Prof S P Mukherjee ( Head of Expert Committee ) / prof.mukherjee@gmail.com
Professor Rahul Mukherjee / rmuk@iimcal.ac.in
Professor DebasisKundu / kundu@iitk.ac.in
Professor Kalyan Das / kalyanstat@gmail.com
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With regards,
Hemen Parekh / hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 13 Oct 2020
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