Expressing concern over the exploitation of domestic workers and lack of legal protection for their rights, the Supreme Court has directed the Union of India to enact a comprehensive law safeguarding their rights.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjwal Bhuyan on Wednesday stressed on the urgent need for legislative intervention for an indispensable yet marginalised workforce that kept the homes running, while being denied their own basic rights.
This crtical workforce remained vulnerable to exploitation, low wages and poor working conditions with little or no legal recourse, it pointed out.
Exercising the doctrine of parens patriae (court’s duty to protect vulnerable citizens), the top court of the country directed the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, along with the Ministries of Social Justice and Women & Child Development, to jointly constitute a committee of subject experts.
This committee should submit its report within six months, following which the government must consider enacting a legal framework that effectively safeguarded the rights and dignity of domestic workers, it added.