Answer

Introduction

The Supreme Court’s Ajay Malik (2025) judgement stressed the need for stronger legal protection for domestic workers. With 11% of urban women in this sector, traditional enforcement is ineffective as households are not industries. A community-led RWA model offers a practical alternative for fair wages and security.

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Potential of a community-led model (RWAs)

• Local enforcement node: RWAs already maintain digital records of workers (police verification, duty management). These can be extended into a worker registration and monitoring system.
  Eg: RWAs in gated societies in Delhi maintain databases that can be shared with labour departments.
• Accessible grievance redressal: RWAs are closer to both households and workers, providing a neutral platform to nudge erring employers towards fair practices.
  Eg: In Chile, “symbolic enforcement” by community authorities helped discipline habitual violators.
• Awareness and sensitisation hub: RWAs can host rights-based awareness drives, ensuring workers know about minimum wages, maternity benefits and pensions.
  Eg: Tamil Nadu’s welfare board awareness camps for domestic workers.
• Social protection link: RWAs can coordinate enrollment of workers into state welfare schemes (insurance, pensions) by integrating with labour departments.
  Eg: Maharashtra’s Domestic Workers’ Welfare Board facilitates health insurance and pensions through local outreach.

Challenges in a community-led model

• Household privacy: Enforcement inside private homes risks resistance on grounds of intrusion.
  Eg: Ireland faces similar difficulties since households are not treated as “industries.”
• Weak legal authority: RWAs are not statutory labour regulators; their decisions may lack enforceability.
  Eg: India’s past seven bills on domestic workers failed partly due to enforcement design issues.
• Fragmentation and uneven capacity: Not all RWAs have resources, digital systems, or willingness to manage labour rights.
  Eg: Smaller housing colonies in West Bengal lack structured RWAs unlike metro gated societies.

Way forward to make the model better

• Legal recognition of RWAs’ role: Amend labour rules to give RWAs a defined responsibility as compliance facilitators, not enforcers.
  Eg: Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises households as “employers,” which can be extended to RWAs as facilitators.
• Standardised worker ID and registration: Digital ID cards linked to labour departments, generated through RWAs, can serve as registration for social security.
  Eg: Police verification databases in Bengaluru gated societies already function this way.
• Partnership model: Regular joint camps of RWAs, labour officers, and NGOs for grievance handling and scheme enrolment.
  Eg: West Bengal welfare board’s outreach camps could be replicated in urban societies.
• Checks for accountability: Independent audits or social audits to ensure RWAs act fairly and do not exclude workers.
  Eg: Chile’s tripartite model combining state, employers and workers to avoid capture.

Integration with India’s new Labour Codes

• Code on Wages, 2019: RWAs can help ensure payment of notified minimum wages for domestic workers in states.
  Eg: States like Tamil Nadu already notify domestic work wage categories.
• Code on Social Security, 2020: Worker registration through RWAs can plug domestic workers into E-Shram portal and welfare boards.
  Eg: Maharashtra’s board already provides pensions and health insurance.
• Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020: RWAs can coordinate sensitisation campaigns on safe working conditions and protection from harassment.
  Eg: Community awareness campaigns in Chile and Ireland show feasibility.
• Industrial Relations Code, 2020: While households cannot be treated as “industries,” RWAs could facilitate dispute resolution and mediation before escalation.
  Eg: Symbolic enforcement in Chile uses community-level interventions without treating households as formal establishments.

Conclusion

Domestic work must be recognised as formal labour with equal rights. A RWA-driven model, integrated into Labour Codes, can bridge enforcement gaps. This aligns India with ILO C189 and ensures dignity for workers.

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