DomesticworkerS

►	How to Implement the Ban on Child Labour in Domestic Workers

Hindi

Introduction:-

Nirmala Niketan was formed as a group in 1998 by tribal girls working as full-time, in-house domestic workers. Since “domestic work” was not an acceptable vocation to be registered as a co-operative society it became part of “Apna Nirman Mazdoor Co-operative Society Ltd”, a registered cooperative society of Construction Workers, and an active partner of the National Campaign Committee for Unorganised Sector Workers (NCC-USW).

Experience of Nirmala Niketan:-

Nirmala Niketan participated actively in the initial three years (from 2001 to 2003) in the formation of the Domestic Workers Forum in Delhi. Nirmala Niketan also organised Workshops on Domestic Workers at the Asia Social Forum at Hyderabad in 2003 and the World Social Forum at Mumbai in 2004. Nirmala Niketan conducted field work for the Butterflies study on “Exploitation in Homes -- A Study of Child Domestic Workers in Delhi in 2004. During 2004 -2005 Nirmala Niketan concentrated on ensuring inclusion of Domestic Workers in the Social Security Legislation for Unorganised Sector Workers. During 2006 Nirmala Niketan started reaching out to other organisations working in Jharkhand and Delhi for protecting Domestic workers who include large numbers of child workers, most of them tribal girls.

Placement of Domestic Workers by Nirmala Niketan:-

The founders of Nirmala Niketan were well aware that the working conditions in domestic work were inhuman. The organisation started placement to understand the system and explore viable solutions to humanize “domestic work” and make it “decent work” because lakhs of families back home depended on the earnings of these migrant domestic workers.

Seven years of experience of placing and monitoring the working conditions of over five hundred girls, 150 girls per year on an average, has given us an insight into Domestic Work and the working of “Placement Agencies”. This is the basis for our suggestions for effectively removing children below 14 years from domestic work and preventing their re-employment in this field.

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