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Indian Express
03-07-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
When labour reform doesn't translate to labour rights
Written by Ujjwal Bhardwaj and Mrinalini Naik Recently, the National Platform for Domestic Workers (NPDW) reiterated its long-standing demand for a comprehensive national legislation to protect over 3 crore domestic workers across India. In the last few months, hundreds of Zepto workers in Hyderabad and Blinkit gig workers in Varanasi went on strike against arbitrary pay cuts and exploitative working conditions. Across the country, India's invisible labour force comprising domestic, gig, construction, sanitation, and agricultural labour is increasingly becoming vocal. But is the law listening? The 2019–20 labour codes were projected as a major reform, aimed at consolidating and streamlining India's labour laws. Yet, five years later, their silence on the unorganised sector is deafening. Of India's estimated 600 million workers, over 90 per cent work in the informal sector, without contracts, social security, or right to unionise. Despite the rhetoric of inclusivity, these codes bypass those who need protection the most. In 2008, the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act was enacted to enable welfare schemes for such workers. However, the Act was limited in scope as it remained silent on key issues like minimum wage, working conditions, and unequal pay, and did not place binding obligations on the government. Worse, it required unorganised workers to furnish an 'employment certificate' to avail any benefit. This law was eventually subsumed into the Code on Social Security, 2020. Although the Code on Social Security, 2020, looks like inclusion, its design is exclusionary. While it theoretically extends coverage to gig and platform workers, it does not explicitly include several major categories of workers such as agricultural labourers, domestic workers, street vendors and shop-floor workers, thereby leaving them in a legal vacuum . Moreover, registration of workers under Section 113 of the Code remains voluntary and patchy. The burden of self-registration and self-verification on the e-Shram portal, imposed on workers who are already marginalised and digitally illiterate, reflects a top-down approach that fails to read the ground realities. The Code provides for the establishment of unorganised workers' welfare boards at national and state levels; however, these aren't fully operational yet. Only a few states have created welfare boards but most remain underfunded and underutilised. Kerala alone has a comparatively functional model, with dedicated boards for informal sectors and a tripartite funding structure. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court in the case of Ajay Malik vs State of Uttarakhand directed the Centre to enact a law to protect the rights of domestic workers. These workers, primarily women from Dalit and Adivasi communities, face a precarious situation. The absence of employer-employee recognition and exclusion of private households from the definition of 'establishment' under new labour laws leaves them under-protected. They are excluded from benefits like ESI, PF, and maternity leave. Neither do the new labour codes offer redress for sexual harassment. Although the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) provides for local complaints committees for the unorganised sector, most districts have failed to constitute them, and enforcement remains almost non-existent. Agricultural workers, who form the backbone of India's rural economy are also left out. None of the four labour codes directly apply to the farm sector, despite the chronic wage exploitation, and high rates of indebtedness. Existing welfare schemes like PM-KISAN predominantly target agricultural landowners, leaving landless labourers with public distribution benefits, rather than robust wage or social security protections. Workers in retail outlets and repair shops face a similar predicament. While they fall under the ambit of the Code on Wages, 2019, enforcement is inadequate. This is due to a lack of shop registration, fear of job loss among workers if they report violations, and inadequate inspection machinery. The threshold-based applicability of the new labour codes further undermines their reach. Many provisions apply only to establishments employing 10, 20 or more workers, effectively excluding the lakhs of small shops and informal units where most unorganised employment is concentrated. India currently does not have a unified, binding legal regime to protect informal workers across sectors. Moreover, the laws treat such workers as recipients of welfare rather than holders of enforceable rights. Constitutional commitments under Articles 21, 39(e), 41 and 43 demand a rights-based approach to employment security and livelihood dignity. A central statute similar to the Rajasthan Platform-based Gig Workers (Welfare) Act, 2023, mandating worker registration and creation of welfare funds, applicable to all informal workers, is now required. Additionally, the long-pending National Policy for Domestic Workers, in circulation since 2011 and still in draft form, needs to be passed. Creating a single digital social security ID (Portable Smart Identification Cards), linked to Aadhaar and e-Shram, ensuring seamless portability across jobs, states, and employment types can be beneficial for the workers. The National Welfare Board and all state boards should be operationalised at the earliest. Appropriate funding and empowering the boards with proper tripartite representation (Workers' Representative, Employers and Government) and decision-making powers is needed. There should also be a robust Grievance Redressal Mechanism for all informal workers. Local Labour Ombudsmen at the ward or district level, empowered to adjudicate disputes, ensure fair wage practices, and enforce sexual harassment protections, especially in private homes and unregistered workplaces, can provide meaningful protection. India also needs to ratify ILO Conventions 189 and 184. These conventions on domestic work and agricultural safety standards will align India's framework with global rights-based norms. India's labour laws must not be tools of economic abstraction. They must reflect the real, lived experiences of those who build our cities, grow our food, clean our homes, and power our platforms. Unless the missing majority is placed at the centre of policy, labour reform will remain reform in name alone. The writers are advocates in the Supreme Court
The Hindu
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
A comprehensive legislation for 3 crore domestic workers in India demanded by NPDW
On the occasion of International Domestic Workers Day observed on Monday (June 16) the National Platform of Domestic Workers (NPDW) has demanded that the Central government enact a comprehensive legislation for domestic workers. An estimated number of about 30 million people are engaged in domestic work in the country, who form a critical part of the workforce in the informal sector. Around 80% of these workers are women drawn from the most vulnerable social and economic groups, as per a press release issued on Saturday (June 14). Varghese Theckanath, member of NPDW national core team and Sister Lissy Joseph, Telangana convenor and others said that India has not adopted a legislation to protect the rights or welfare of domestic workers. Citing a Supreme Court judgement dated January 29, 2025 which directed the Ministry of Labour and Employment in tandem with three other Ministries to jointly constitute a committee comprising subject experts to consider the desirability of recommending a legal framework for the benefit, protection, and regulation of the rights of domestic workers. 'It will be appreciated if the Committee submits a report within a period of six months, whereupon the Government of India may consider the necessity of introducing a legal framework which may effectively address the cause and concern of domestic workers,' as per the judgement. NPDW members said that despite the directive, no substantial steps were taken by the Central Government to initiate the legislative process. Protest in Hyderabad Domestic workers from four districts convened at the Dharna Chowk in Hyderabad on Monday (June 16) to voice their concerns and press for a mechanism to resolve them. Sister Lissy said that women raised issues like salaries withheld or withdrawn by contractors, unfair wages, atrocities faced, a lack of labour rights and social protection like health insurance. 'If the Telangana government forms a welfare board, the domestic workers can lodge their grievances,' said Sister Lissy. There are over 11 lakh domestic workers in the State.
