Muristek
Bhopal: Domestic workers must get weekly offs, social security benefits, Uday Social Development Society raises demand
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Domestic workers must get weekly off and they should be entitled to social security benefits too. They should be given the status of workers in the unorganised sector.
Raising these and other demands, more than 1,000 women domestic workers participated in a programme organised by Uday Social Development Society to mark the International Day of Domestic Work on Thursday.
The Madhya Pradesh Domestic Workers' Trade Union is working in Khandwa, Dewas, Indore, and Bhopal, with over 11,000 women, who do domestic work, as members.
The director of Uday Society, Sister Lizy Thomas, said that a large section of women in the country do domestic work, which includes sweeping, mopping, washing dishes, washing clothes, ironing clothes, cleaning the house, cooking, handling children and taking care of old people, etc. Despite their importance, the government has not taken any step to empower domestic working women economically and socially.
Chief guest, Richa Choubey, additional Police Commissioner emphasised the formation of a Shakti Samiti at the police station level to prevent violence against women. He said that whenever any incident happens to you, you should register your complaint with the police or dial 100.
UNICEF's Child Protection Consultant, Amarjeet Kumar Singh said that domestic workers should get the right to pay, leave, etc. Moving ahead in the programme, four domestic working women shared what kind of problems they face during work; they do not even get the right wage and respect.
Children presented a drama on domestic violence and all participants took an oath. UNICEF, Aarambh, Bachpan, Muskaan and other organisations also participated in the event.
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