All India Survey on Domestic Workers

• 23 Nov 2021

Why in News

Recently, the Union Minister for Labour and Employment flagged off the first ever All India Survey on Domestic Workers (DW).

• This was a first-ever such survey in independent India and will be completed in a year.

Key Points

• About:
  
  • The main objectives of the survey are:
    
    • Estimate the number/proportion of DWs at National and State level.
    • Household Estimates of Live-in/Live-out DWs.
    • Average number of DWs engaged by different types of households.
  • Parameters the survey aims to capture the number and proportion of household workers by major states, with separate rural and urban break-ups, their percentage distribution, households that employ them and socio-demographic characteristics.
  • The survey would cover 37 States and Union Territories, covering 1.5 lakh households in 742 districts.
  • The survey for domestic workers is among five national jobs surveys that will be conducted periodically and provide crucial data for an upcoming national employment policy.
    
    • The other four surveys are the All-India Survey of Migrant Workers, All-India Survey of Employment Generated by Professionals and All-India Survey of Employment Generated in the Transport Sector, All-India Quarterly Establishment-based Employment Survey (AQEES).
• Need of the Survey:
  
  • Domestic workers (DWs) constitute a significant portion of total employment in the informal sector. However, there is a dearth of data on the magnitude and prevailing employment conditions of DW.
  • The Survey is intended to have time series data on domestic workers.
  • The survey will help the government understand significant issues on certain special and vulnerable segments of labour and will guide effective policymaking.
• Domestic Worker:
  
  • About:
    
    • Any person engaged by a household shall be classified as a domestic worker if the frequency of visits by the worker to the household is at least four days during the last 30 days and the goods and/or services produced by the worker are consumed by the members of the household against payment either through cash or kind.
  • Status of Domestic Workers:
    
    • According to the latest data on the e-Shram portal, around 8.8% of the registered 8.56 crore informal sector workers fall in the category of domestic workers.
      
      • India has around 38 crore workers in the informal sector.
    • At the current rate of registration in the e-shram portal, there would be 3-3.5 crore domestic workers in the country.
    • Domestic workers are the third-largest category of workers after agriculture and construction.
    • India is a signatory of the International Labour Organisation Convention C-189 (Domestic Workers Convention, 2011).

Source: TH