Domestic help drive: 25,000 and counting

Since the Maharashtra State Domestic Workers Board started registering house helps in November 2011,their number in Pune as on Friday stood at 25,000.

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Since the Maharashtra State Domestic Workers Board (MSDWB) started registering house helps in November 2011,their number in Pune as on Friday stood at 25,000. The figures are expected to go up to 80,000 and for Puneites,who have for long complained of domestic helps in short supply,this might come as a relief. Every day,1,500 to 2,000 domestic helps are registering themselves at the board office.

Interestingly,the drive picked up momentum only in the last two weeks. With civic elections round the corner,many corporators are bearing the registration charges (Rs 90 per person) in their respective wards. Some others are even bearing the domestic helps travelling expenses.

Domestic helps fall in the unorganized sector. The board has come up with insurance schemes for domestic helps and financial assistance for their children. Registered domestic helps will soon get computerized cards which will enable them to avail the benefit of various schemes.

Once the registration is complete,we will try to work as intermediary between workers and employers. We are also planning to organise training workshops for them, said Sunil Shinde,director of MSDWB.

The state has allotted Rs 6.5 crore for the project. Beneficiaries will get an insurance cover of Rs 30,000 in case of death (other than accident),Rs 75,000 in case of death due to accident and Rs 37,500 in case of permanent partial disability due to an accident. Two of the benefiaries children who are in classes IX and X will get a scholarship of Rs 100 per month.

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