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ShareThe government has agreed to give the army a separate pay commission, but has refused to grant it grade-pay parity with civilian services. In that context, the bill to protect the maids is a rare triumph for domestic workers on whom middle-class Mumbai is completely dependent. The triumph, by the way, lies in the acknowledgment the workers have received from the government; their employers have always found it in their interest to treat them humanely and respectfully.
Indeed, in most cases, the relationship between maids and their employers is affectionate, although the affection is sometimes italicised by irritation. So, will the bill benefit the maids? To answer the question, we must invoke the pragmatic cry that Roman legislators let out when analysing a proposed policy or a crime: cui bono? (who profits from it?). The government will certainly profit; there are over a million domestic workers in the state. And when you consider the voting eligibility of those million, and that of their relations, that is a whole lot of bono!
The maids will be able to seek leave citing government rules; currently, they ask for off-days citing ill-health, or the ill-health of their children/sisters/parents/husbands. Most of us let them deal with the crises without a thought, or maybe some recrimination. Now, we will be able to scrutinise attendance records and offer a holiday with a pay cut. I am not sure whether we can subject a maid to a medical test after she stays away from work because of sudden illness. And I am even more doubtful that nobody in Mumbai will consider a pay cut if the illness story turns out to be medical fantasy.
But I am certain that the bill will vitiate a mostly warm relationship. I know of many people who pay for the education of their maids' children, vouch for their drunken husbands at police stations, and give interest-free loans during health crises. I am sure you have done some of that and know many other people who have willingly offered similar assistance. The government will get the votes and people will start playing by the book. So, while the maids will get their sick leave, they will be, I fear, denied the perks of compassion. The proposed bill was being talked about in the government even last year, but the state had a different chief minister then.
I do not remember any chief minister, or a babu, ever talking seriously about the need to give modern weapons or effective bullet-proof jackets to the police. Then 26/11 happened. Now elections will happen. In the intersection between the tragic and the mundane, a family had to wait for two hours at Mumbai Central because no taxiwallah wanted their custom. The family was stranded although the police were pleading their case with the taxiwallahs. The government won't regulate the taxiwallah behaviour so close to elections.
