SC calls for law to secure domestic workers’ rights
Hindustan TimesThe Supreme Court on Wednesday lamented the lack of statutory protection for millions of domestic workers across the country, while urging the Union government to enact a comprehensive law to safeguard their rights and directing the Centre to constitute a committee to examine within six months the feasibility of such a legislative framework. This committee, the court said, should submit its report within six months, following which the government must consider enacting a legal framework that effectively safeguards the rights and dignity of domestic workers. “The simple reason for this harassment and abuse, which seems to be prevalent across the whole country, is linked to the legal vacuum that exists vis-à-vis the rights and protection of domestic workers,” noted the court, adding that these workers are not just unprotected under a dedicated law but are also excluded from key labour statutes such as the Payment of Wages Act, Minimum Wages Act and the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act. “It just seems to us that no effective legislative or executive action towards enacting a statute which could prove to be a boon to the millions of vulnerable domestic workers across the country has been undertaken as of now,” rued the bench, imploring the Centre to pay heed to the critical need for a robust legal framework to secure the welfare and dignity of domestic workers.
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