Domestic help in Mumbai seek benefits

More than 2,000 domestic workers from Mumbai, Thane and Raigad participated in a one-day conference at Azad Maidan and demanded implementation of the Domestic Workers Welfare Board Act 2008. 

The act which was passed in December 2008 promises to set up a welfare board for domestic workers and to provide social security and benefits such as pension, maternity and medical assistance to them.  

The conference was organised by the Maharashtra branch of National Domestic Workers’ Movement (NDWM) to promote solidarity among domestic workers and to put an end to the atrocities perpetrated against them.

“Domestic workers should be considered as workers and should be eligible for all the legitimate benefits,” said Dyanesh Patil, core committee member of NDWM, Maharashtra. The conference demanded that domestic work be brought under the Minimum Wages Act