I was stuck in the traffic yesterday (nothing new about that) when I heard a jingle announcing the Government’s scheme to provide urban poor and unemployed persons with skill sets and opportunities for work other than as domestic servants and construction workers.“Don’t work as a maid or servant. Get a decent job! With the Rajiv Gandhi Urban Poor Employment Scheme equip yourself for a better life” screamed the ad. exhorting people to better their lives.   Honestly speaking , there is nothing wrong in that. Why should the urban poor be condemned to a life of servitude? Don’t they deserve a chance at a better way of earning a living?

Sure – everyone should have the opportunity to earn a wage with a skill set  that helps him earn a livelihood. But honestly speaking what is wrong with domestic work? What is wrong in cooking and cleaning?After all it is an honest day’s work and many home makers are doing it day in and day out for free.

I recently found out that a “maharaj” or cook earns upto Rs. 8000 – Rs 12000 a month for working for two hours as a visiting cook. He doesn’t so much as even chop the vegetables as that is meant for the minions at home. And as for washing up the pots he has used to cook the food – you must be dreaming. So, the “maharaj” literally earns upto Rs.24000 working in four homes for only 8 hours in a day. He normally gets to sleep in one of the homes he works in, gets his meals thrown in and works in homes that are really clean and comfortable with all modern conveniences. Similarly, a domestic house cleaner earns upto Rs.4000 a month for an hour’s job that involves swishing a broom like a magic wand and sloshing around water in a bathroom that is already clean.  These workers are paid in cash, have no accountability and can come and go as they please often demanding a premium as they are getting more and more scarce.

The radio advertisement is actually spreading the wrong message – that there is no dignity in honest labour. While I agree that everyone should have a chance at bettering one’s future and that the poor urban population should not be forced to work as domestic labour, isn’t house cleaning and cooking career enough?

Granted this sector should be more organised with proper labour laws in place protecting their interests, preventing child labour, abuse of servants, ensuring a minimum wage, health insurance and regular working conditions but to brainwash people into believing that domestic work is demeaning, will only result in the Prime Minister making his own cup of tea and sweeping his own home.