In her two-room home in Shahbad Dairy, an informal settlement in North-West Delhi, Kavita Devi tells me: 7 years into her marriage, at 20, she migrated to Delhi from Bihar’s Shivaji Nagar. Forced by her husband’s psychiatric illness, and consequent financial crises, they moved with their three children. “It’s difficult for women to find work back home.”
Kavita started as a waste collector, earning Rs 250 a day, but asked neighbours about available domestic work—less physically punishing, with access to leftovers and hand-me-downs. Finding work in homes was a big relief. “It allowed me to run my household.”
The relief is limited. Domestic work in India is informal: poorly paid, unregulated, shaped by caste and gender. Most are women; many, like Kavita, from oppressed castes. “Not all workers can do all kinds of work,” says Naureen Sabba, organiser at Delhi Gharelu Kaamgar Union (DGKU), “Cooking, for example, is subject to discrimination and restrictions based on caste and religion.”
As Kavita noticed gaps—delayed wages, no support during illness, no job security—she took to attending DGKU meetings. The union helps members get identity documents, understand their rights, and access government schemes. It intervenes when employers refuse pay, misbehave, or threaten dismissal.
“It’s hard to fight alone, especially when you’re a poor woman. Everyone tries to suppress you. But when you’re in a union, members and leaders come forward.” She adds, “[The union provides] the means to…demand dignity as a worker.”
Some states have welfare boards under the Unorganised Social Security Act to provide insurance, leaves, and benefits to informal workers, including domestic workers, and have made domestic work eligible for the Minimum Wage Act. Delhi hasn’t implemented either. Today, workers earn Rs 2000 for jhaadu-pocha and bartan per house per month, working multiple houses to make ends meet. Cooking earns a bit more.
Union support goes beyond domestic work. As word spreads about development activities in the area, displacement feels inevitable. “Authorities say they’ll build something here. The union gives us power to push back.”
‘Everyday Locavores’ is a series dedicated to spotlight the people who enrich and sustain our food systems in many ways. Through short-format visual essays, we offer you a glimpse into their everyday lives, work, pleasures, and realities.
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