Opinion Girl in Gurgaon: Cases of abuse of domestic workers raise questions about informal employment sector

On Tuesday, a Gurgaon-based couple was booked for allegedly assaulting and torturing a minor girl who worked for them as a domestic help. The girl has been admitted to a hospital for treatment of the injuries she suffered. While the police has said that an FIR has been registered under sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Juvenile Justice Act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, cases such as this one raise larger questions. These have to do with the nature and form of informal employment relationships in India and the unequal power equations between the employers and employees that underlie them.
Domestic work in India serves as a major and growing employment avenue, especially for uneducated and unskilled workers from rural areas as well as the urban poor.

According to the government’s e-Shram portal, a national database of unorganised workers, almost 10 per cent of the workers registered are engaged as domestic and household workers. Employment in this category tends to be dominated by women, with most of them being migrants. The work often involves long hours. And while wages in these occupations in urban areas, especially in the major metropolitan centres, may be higher than in rural areas, implementation of minimum wage rules remains an unaddressed issue across the country. Moreover, these workers have little bargaining power to correct this. Those employed in these jobs tend to have little access to social protection and are at times subject to harassment and abuse. Even when there is some sort of legal framework granting these workers some basic rights, low state capacity means that implementation on the ground remains poor. Over the years, there has been a growth in the number of private agencies who act as a conduit between the demand and supply ends of the market — the minor in this case, who hails from Jharkhand, is also reported to have been hired through a placement agency. While these agencies indicate some sort of push towards formalisation of this segment in the economy, their functioning remains mostly informal in nature. Most of them fail to provide any form of support, financial or otherwise, to these girls and women.

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As urbanisation in India gathers momentum, as the nuclearisation of families rises, as the pressures on families of old-age care increase, demand for domestic care work is only likely to escalate. Considering the power dynamics at work, these employment spaces and frameworks cannot be left scantily regulated. While a degree of flexibility in work structures should be retained, there is a need to address the power imbalance, and provide greater protection. Ensuring detailed documentation and greater transparency in work contracts, along with stricter enforcement of rules and regulations, will be a necessary first step.