Domestic help

Authors Avatar

Q. Write an argumentative essay conveying your point of view on domestic help: another form of bonded labour. (700-900 words)

Ans. ‘Domestic help is an employee paid to perform menial tasks around the household.’ In India, we are extremely familiar with the concept of domestic help. Which of us, in our households, can manage without a Ramu, a Chotu or a Shankar? In this country, we have few developed cities and millions of villages with a large, poor population. These people migrate to the cities looking for work. They earn low wages in their villages and come to the metropolitan cities in search of better salaries and higher standards of living. In most cases, the domestic employee is unskilled; the employer has greater skill and ability. An individual coming from a village may have never experienced something as basic as a doorbell; and may be unaware that one must answer the door when the doorbell rings. However, as the employer has less time, inclination and desire to handle most household chores, he or she would rather employ someone to ‘help’. In return, the employee receives a salary according to market conditions, a decent home to stay in, a feeling of security, and healthy, adequate food. In many situations, long term domestic help are treated like family members and develop a strong sense of belonging.

Join now!

‘Debt bondage or bonded labour is a means of paying off loans with direct labour instead of currency or goods.’ The first signs of bonded labour trace back to approximately the early sixteen hundreds. When a needy person takes a loan and is unable to pay it back or offer a tangible asset in exchange, he/she can offer his/her services as a method of repayment. The employee is bound to his employer and cannot shift jobs, often resulting in exploitation and ill treatment. The labourer could be unhappy, but is stuck as he/she has to repay the debt. Bonded ...

This is a preview of the whole essay