Say bye bye to cheap maids14 Mar 2008, 0331 hrs IST,Radheshyam Jadhav,TNN


PUNE: The 70,000-odd ʽkaamwali baisʼ in the city have something to cheer about. If the state government has its way, these housemaids may soon get a fixed, minimum monthly pay, bonus, paid leave and flexible working hours. The government plans to introduce a domestic worker welfare bill in the ongoing session of the state assembly ensuring stipulated benefits to housemaids in Pune, Mumbai and other select cities. State marketing minister Harshvardhan Patil told TOI on Thursday that the bill is ready for tabling. Once the bill is introduced, a labour board will come into place, which will include representatives of maids, their employers and government officials. The board will look into the rights of domestic workers and stipulate norms of payment, bonus, weekly offs and paid leaves. All housemaids will be registered with the board. Maids working in cities like Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad will be among the first to benefit. The Pune Shahar Molkarin Sanghatana (PSMS), an organisation of housemaids in the city, was a major force pushing the state to frame the bill. Absence of formal employer-employee relationship, lack of organisation, poor bargaining power, low legislative protection and inadequate welfare measures are some of the reasons cited by the PSMS for the exploitation of maids.