Subject: MAUD LTR NO. 3654/GENERAL/2020 DT 30 JULY 2020
Reference: NHRC CASE NO. 680/36/2/2020 680/36/2/2020 dt 28/5/2020 & SHRC CASE NO. 1417/2020 dt 8.6.2020
Further to our previous notices and press releases “Mr Principal Secretary, IAS, it is DOMESTIC WORKERS, NOT ‘MAIDS’ or ‘HELPS‘” we have the following update:
Principal Secretary to government, MAUD, government of Telangana has replied to the NHRC case no. 680/36/2/2020 and defends that memos cited were issued for ‘keeping safety and well-being of ‘domestic workers”. We reiterate that our notice to MAUD secretary did not question the intention of MAUD secretary.
Rather, the MAUD secretary had addressed domestic workers as ‘domestic aid, domestic help, house help, maid’ in both the memos in spite of representing to him that he should refrain such unprofessional and illegal terminology and address them as domestic workers.
Hence, the defence is baseless. MAUD secretary would do well to issue an apology and re-issue the two memos with due reference to domestic workers or issue a new memo nullifying the words ‘domestic help, house help, maids’ used in Memo No. 3654/General/2020 dated 06-05-2020 and 3654/General/2020 dated 18 May 2020 and that they are replaced and to be read as ‘domestic workers’.
MAUD secretary has not looked into any of the other 5 issues concerning the domestic workers raised by us.
Top priority is the masks to be provided by the employers of the domestic workers. Who is authority looking into the compliance of this crucial guideline? Place the compliance report in public domain for GHMC.
Best,
Dr Lubna Sarwath
State General Secretary, Socialist Party (India)
