New Orleans Another report from Dharmendra Kumar of progress in beginning a new organization of informal workers in Delhi, this time located in Shakarpur. It’s a pleasure to share this report from the field of a small but significant step forward. A meeting of ACORN International Domestic Women’s Federation was held in Shakarpur of East Delhi on 3 March 2009. All together 11 women participated in the meeting. A committee of 6 people was unanimously elected.
Shakarpur Committee of ACORN International Domestic Women’s Federation
- Asha Bibi (W) — Convenor
- Pritee Viswas (W) –Co-Convenor
- Pratima Halder (W)
- Shikha Majhi (W)
- Lakkhi Vishwas (W)
- Ashya Halder (W)
Issues discussed in the meeting: Only 24 of the 2,400-odd placement agencies operating in the capital are registered with the government. Most of these agencies provide domestic help and exploit young women who are brought from poverty-stricken regions of Jharkhand, Bihar or Orissa with hope of a better life and then pushed to labour as maid servants by these illegal agencies. Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) with NGOs rescued 35 girls and three boys from this locality of east Delhi in February 2009. National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) endorses that Delhi has the maximum cases of child abductions. The following issues/demands were finalized in the meeting: (1)Create Regulatory body for Domestic Workers (2)Register all domestic workers and provide Identity Cards (3)Enact anti-trafficking laws, especially for domestic child labour (4)Rein in the placement agencies
