Delegates from various countries adopted a historic resolution by casting their votes aiming to improve working conditions of the domestic workers worldwide. International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted ‘The Convention on Domestic Workers (2011)’ on 17th June 2011 at the 100th annual convention held in Geneva.
Abuses against domestic workers majority of whom are women and girl child are common in many parts of the world, until now we lacked strong measures to stop them. All countries including India are in process to ratify this treaty which states domestic workers must have reasonable working hours, weekly rest, right to join trade unions and collective bargaining, regulation of recruitment agencies by government etc.
The new standards also say that states must grant domestic workers the same protections as any other worker, including decent working conditions. They can no longer be considered as second-class workers. India’s National Advisory Council and the Centre had recently recommended including domestic workers as part of social security schemes like health insurance. This shall improve the socio-economic status of our domestic workers.
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