From May, female domestic helps have to be paid a salary ranging between $300 and $350 (Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000 approximately) per month by their employers.
NEW DELHI: Indian maid servants will come with a price band now. In order to prevent their exploitation on a foreign soil, the government has for the first time fixed minimum wages for female domestic helps going abroad.
From May, female domestic helps have to be paid a salary ranging between $300 and $350 (Rs 13,000 to Rs 15,000 approximately) per month by their employers.
This has to be put in the form of a written contract between the employer and the domestic help for an emigration clearance.
The ministry of overseas Indian affairs (MOIA) has asked Indian diplomatic missions in 17 ECR countries to fix the minimum wages for household service workers in the range of $300-$350, or based on the prevailing market wage of these countries. However, the wages cannot be lower than $300. The Indian missions have been given time till April to notify this.
Missions have also been told to evolve a mechanism so that the payments of wages can be made through banks. Besides, registration with concerned embassy will also be made mandatory.
According to MOIA minister Vayalar Ravi, the government is also working out a way to ensure mobile connectivity to these workers so that their whereabouts is known to the embassy concerned.
The missions have also been entrusted the responsibility of safe custody of their passports. Besides, a foreign employer will have to provide a bank guarantee of $2,500 if he/she recruits a worker directly. It shall apply to all Indian emigrant workers directly recruited by the foreign employer. This bank guarantee will be released to the employer only after all dues are paid to the worker on expiry of the contract.
“I got a lot of complains of exploitation of Indian maid servants in Kuwait. Many were forced to live in inhuman conditions and were paid much less then what they were promised,” said women and child development minister Renuka Chowdhury.
“This move will not only ensure them a better pay package but also help us rescue them in case of a problem,” she added. “We are also preparing a bilateral model contract to be followed by employers while hiring Indian workers. This would include ensuring proper working conditions, healthcare etc,” said an official from MOIA.
p_vineeta@dnaindia.net
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