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CHAPTER4

MAID FOR WORK:

MIGRATION FOR DOMESTIC WORK FROM JHARKHAND

India comprises almost 30 percent of Asia's population (HDR 2009) and is an enormous

source of migrant labour within Asia and with increasingly large numbers of migrant workers

migrating to the Gulf countries in the last few decades. Migration from the Indian

subcontinent is not a new phenomenon though. From trade links to cultural exchange

between regions, from invaders in the medieval era to the era ofBritish colonial rule, Indians

have moved out of the region, willingly or forced. Indentured labour has been transported all

the way to the other side of the globe while ayahs and maidservants have accompanied their

colonial sahibs back to England. A small section did access education and paid jobs in other

colonies or in England. And post independence, India has witnessed the brain drain, skilled

migrants moving out of the country in search of better (paid) opportunities. From India,

doctors, engineers, MBAs and nurses have migrated to countries of the North; and more

increasingly in the recent past - electricians, masons, plumbers, electricians, technicians and

domestic workers are migrating in large numbers to developed countries. This perhaps

explains why India is the highest remittance receiving country in the world today with 42,897

USD received as remittances (World Bank 201 0).

With a higher per capita income and a growing industrial base, India has for long been

a destination and more recently, as a transit point for migrants from across the continent, as

elaborated in the previous chapter. The estimated number of domestic workers in India is 90

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Jharkhand has a very high percentage of rural households, which is also reflected in

tenns of a high percentage of rural population. Furthermore, the average size of rural

household is far above the national average. Of the total rural population, the SCs (12.35

percent) and STs (31.02 percent) together constitute 43.38 per cent. Jharkhand has a

population of26.93 million, consisting of 13.88 million males and 13.08 million females. The

sex ratio is 941 females to 1000 males, while the rural sex ratio is slightly higher with 962

females per 1 000 males. The rural literacy rate for males in Jharkhand is 49.1 percent while

the rural literacy rate for females in 24 percent. The average rural literacy rate is 36.8 percent.

It is interesting to note that the infant mortality rate for Jharkhand is 62 (per 1 000 live

births) and is much lower than the national average of66 (Statistical Abstract oflndia, 2003).

In fact, the rural infant mortality rate (67) is much lesser than the national rural infant

mortality rate (72). The population density of the state is 274 persons per square kilometre of

land. However, it varies from as low as 148 per square kilometre in Gumla district to as high

as 1167 per square kilometre in Dhanbad district. Jharkhand has 24 districts comprising 211

blocks and 32, 620 villages out of which only 45% are electrified while only 8,484 are

connected by roads (Census 2001).

Table 4.1: Workforce characteristics of rural Jharkhand

Workforce Participation Rate %Main %Agri %Agri Workers Labour+ Dependent

Persons Male Female Marginal Population Cultivators

Jharkhand 40.9 49.6 31.8 59.6 47.1 77.8

Source: Census, 2001

From table 4.1 we can observe that there are a large number of persons engaged as

marginal cultivators and agricultural labour. It is important to note that 77.8 percent of the

rural population is dependent on agriculture for subsistence. Moreover, as Table 4.2 shows,

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,\ li<?,rati...'~ll 1\Jr Domes! ic \\\wk fn.'~m Jhnrkhand ._ .

the availability ofbasic amenities like drinking water, electricity is abysmally low in the rural

areas ofthe state.

Table 4.2: Percentage of households with basic amenities in rural Jharkhand

Rural Water Households Households without Households

Non- Away without Drinking Water, availing Permanent Serviceable from Electricity Electricity & Banking Houses Houses Home & Water Latrines Services

Jharkhand 19 1.21 27 25 24 Source: Census, 2001

If we look at the data available on characteristics of women in rural Jharkhand, it

emerges that the SC sex ratio is lower than the state average while the ST sex ratio is higher

than the state average sex ratio. Women form a substantial portion of the cultivator

population and comprise 41.4 percent of the rural agricultural labour workforce in the state.

However, the literacy rate amongst rural females is very low, only 24 percent of rural women

in Jharkhand are literate. Table 4.3 below shows the women-related indicators for rural

Jharkhand.

Table 4.3: Characteristics of women in rural Jharkhand

Literacy Rate % 24

Sex Ratio 962

SC Sex Ratio 958

ST Sex Ratio 989

Workforce Participation Rate 31.8

%Main Workers 36.2

% Cultivators 45.2

% Agri Labour 41.4

%Household Based Occupation 5.5

%Others 7.9

Source: Census, 2001

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21

Gumla, the district selected for the survey, was created after being carved out of

Ranchi district in 1983. After the formation of the state of Jharkhand in 2000, Gumla was

further divided into Gumla, Lohardaga and Simdega districts. Essentially a tribal dominated

district, a large number of migrants from the Jharkhand come from Gumla. The district is also

known to have the largest number of female migrants from the state.

Table 4.3: Percentage Distribution ofRural Population in Gumla District

State District %ofMale %of Female Total

Jharkhand Gumla 50.1 49.9 100

Source: Census, 2001

Table 4.4 shows the percentage distribution of scheduled caste and scheduled tribe rural

population in Gumla. We can observe that a majority of the population belongs to scheduled

tnbes. The largest tribal population in the district is of Oraons, which is also the largest tribal

group in Jharkhand. Oraons have a long history of migration for work, mostly forced by the

British to work on plantations and as labour for building the railways network during the

colonial period. Oraons are one of the larger tribes in the state.

Table 4.4 :Percentage Distribution ofRura1 Population in the Districts Studied, by Social Group, 2001

State District %ofSC %ofST %of Others Total

Jharkhand Gumla 5.0 70.2 24.8 100

Source: Census, 2001

Note: Others include upper castes, OBCs, Dalits and Muslim population in the district.

Table 4.5 below shows the percentage of people who are working/ employed or are

looking for work (i.e. people who are unemployed but are willing to work. Approximately 54

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percent of men and nearly 47 percent of women in the district come into this category.

Overall, more than half the population of Gumla is willing to participate/ or are participating

in economic activities.

Table 4.5:Rural Work Participation Rate in Gumla, by Gender, 2001

State District WPR for WPR for Population Male Female WPR

Jharkhand Gumla 53.7 46.9 50.3

Source: Census, 2001

Material condition of residence is an important indicator of well-being. The building

materials of roof, wall, and floor are being used as an indicator to assess the condition of

housing. In the rural areas of the Gumla district, mud and unburnt bricks were used for the

construction of walls.

Table 4.6: Percentage ofHouseholds with Specific Housing Condition, 2001

Material of Ro~f

State District -----------Thatched Concrete

Tiles Roof Roof

Jharkhand Gumla 0.2 1.4 97.6

Source: Census, 2001

Material of Wall

Mud, Thatch Unburnt Concrete

Brick

0.5 92.2 0.0

Material of Floor

Mud Cement

96.6 2.8

The amenities considered for the present analysis include lavatories, electricity, and

sources of drinking water. Needless to mention that there was no single criterion to judge the

accessibility for all the three basic amenities considered here. In case of sources of drinking

water, location was used as the criterion to evaluate accessibility. In the case of lavatories,

and electricity, availability was used as the indicator of accessibility.

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Table 4. 7 below brings out the abysmally low accessibility to basic amenities in the

study regions. Gumla, requires special emphasis - the proportion of households electrified

were the lowest, 2.8 per cent in Gumla. Further, proportion ofhouseholds with toilet facilities

and proportion ofhouseholds with drinking water facilities within premises were the lowest.

Table 4.7: Percentage Distribution ofHouseholds with Basic Amenities, 2001

%of %of

Households %of %~[ Households State District

with Sources of Households Households Availing

Drinking with Toilet with Water within Available Electricity

Banking

Premise Services

Jharkhand Gumla 5.5 3.6 2.8 20.4

Source: Census, 2001

Overall, the districts selected for this study were characterised by extremely low

levels of socio-economic development. The performance of these districts vis-a-vis the

indicators considered here have been dismal. It is this extremely low level of socio-economic

under-development which has the potential to act as the perfect breeding ground for rising

discontent against the State.

CASE STUDY

Life in Jharkhand begins at daybreak. Stirring from slumber, Ranchi, the capital city awakens

to the sound of loud speakers at 5 am. Every temple and mosque in town seems to be

competing to spread the message of God and achieve newer limits in decibel tolerance. In

about an hour, ears stop ringing and horns start blaring. Markets and roads are soon bustling

with people going about their daily fare. The busiest time at the central bus stand in Ranchi is

between 6 and 7 in the morning when most buses begin their sojourns. Private-run buses are

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the veins that connect western Jharkhand to the rest of the country. They are the sole means

of transportation for human beings and their belongings both to their homes and to the big

city.

People in Jharkhand must begin the day early since its best to reach home by dusk. A

striking feature of the city and the surrounding suburbs is the presence of the armed police.

There are as many men in uniform as there are people on the roads. The Maoist movement

has gained strongholds in every region of the state and Gumla district borders Chattisgarh,

another state in the central forest regions of India which is trying to cope with the movement.

Daily exchanges between the warring sides are now a regular feature of the area which

witnesses several blockades and bandhs in a routine month.

The smooth road to Gumla headquarters was a pleasant surprise compared to the

journey from Kathmandu. Apart from the mission headquarters, the district headquarters and

the CRPF camp, Gumla is a tiny town nestled in the foothills of the Tanginath hill range.

However, the 3 hour long wait for a bus (due to a blockade called to protest the killing of

innocent civilians), and the dusty bumpy ride to Dumri headquarters brought you back to

reality. The bus was bursting at its seams since it was the only bus with a permit for one trip

to Dumri. A seemingly impossible number of passengers and several halts later, we reached

Dumri after a journey of 160 kilometres from Ranchi which took 10 hours. The block office

doubled as the bus stand and wore an abandoned look at 4 in the afternoon. The other

passengers had vanished as it was time to scurry back to the safety of their homes. The

village selected for survey was called Bandhua 1, another 6 kilometre walk from Dumri so it

was time to start the last leg of the journey.

1 The word Bandhua, if literally translated means bondage. During interviews, when the origin of the name was asked about, an elderly man belonging to the Mal community revealed that the village used to be the place where the horse stables were located for the Raja of Chainpur.

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1\ li~~ration for Domestic \Vork from Jharkhand

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE

Bandhua, is a small village in Dumri block, Gumla district, Jharkhand. Dumri block

comprises of 14 panchayats covering 115 villages. The village is located at a distance of 95

kilometres away from the district headquarters located in Gumla. The village lies on the

border of the Jharkhand-Chattisgarh border and is separated from Chattisgarh by the

Tanginath range of mountains. The village comprised of 88 households, the total population

was 482 respondents with 240 men and 242 women respondents being surveyed. The female

to male ratio is 1008 females per 1000 males. The majority population is scheduled tribe ( 43

households) that is Roman Catholic and belong to the Oraon tribe. The Hindu population

comprises of Mals (31 households) which are upper castes (UC) as well as a few Ghasi and

Naik (OBC) which comprised 18 households. Only one Dalit household, which belong to the

scheduled castes group in India, was recorded in the surveyed village.

There is a single mud road that runs through the village and the settlements (or tolis)

lie mainly along this road. This mud road gets submerged every monsoon when the banks of

South Koel river swell and overflow. This mud road is the only road that leads to Dumri

village where the local market convenes every Thursday of the week. Cement sheets have

been laid on some parts of this mud road and a bridge over the South Koel river was still

under construction when the survey was concluded. This bridge is a symbol of hope to the

people in the area since it will lead to a proper road being constructed and making way for

better connectivity to basic amenities like high schools and hospitals. The only means of

public transport are the private mini 20-seater buses from Gumla bus- stop to Dumri block

headquarters. All buses reach Dumri before noon and they return to Gumla by 3 in the

afternoon.

The surveyed village lies in a predominantly scheduled tribe region and most of the

population are Roman Catholics. The Hindu population is predominantly Upper caste with

some OBC households and one Dalit household. Apart from demographic particulars of

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household members, information was also collected about asset and livestock status, land and

dwelling unit, access to health, education and social security, possession of certain items of

consumption, marriage and reproduction details, savings and credit and questions on

perceptions about migration and related development.

Information was collected on the possession of certain durable goods which

indicate the standard of living of the surveyed population. Due to the complete absence of

electricity connections, most consumer durables like refrigerators and electric fans were not

found in any ofthe households. No access to electricity also meant that threshers and water

pumps could not be used and led to the continuing practice of subsistence agriculture. A little

less than 10% of the households owned mobile phones for which they used solar chargers or

went to the Dumri block office to charge it at a local shop. A few families owned a bicycle,

but other forms of transport like scooters, motorcycles, vans and tractors were not owned by

the surveyed population. It is also worth noticing that the majority of the households do not

possess even the bare necessities such as cots, mattresses, chairs, tables etc.

LANDHOLDING PATTERN

Access to land in a predominantly agrarian economy is an important indicator of the levels of

deprivation of the selected households. It is an important variable to consider for carrying out

a political economic study of migration for domestic work. The basic unit used to measure

landholdings was acres. Mostly marginal farmers, a vast majority of all households (59 out of

88 households) reported land holding of less than 2.5 acres (approx. 1 hectare). There were

10 landless families in the village. 19 households owned between 2.5 to 5 acres ofland while

another and 10 households owned more than 5 acres of land. The landholding data has been

disaggregated by caste in Table 4.8 below to provide a more detailed understanding of the

socioeconomic profile of the surveyed village.

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Table 4.8: Land holding by caste (number ofhouseholds)

Ora on Mals Ghasi and Landholding size (ST) (UC) Naik (OBC) Dalit Landless 4 2 3 I 0-1 acre 13 8 6 0 1-2.5 acre 15 5 2 0 2.5-5 acre 7 10 2 0 Above 5 acre 4 6 0 0 Total no households 43 31 13 I

Table 4.6 shows that out of 43 Oraon households, only 13 own upto 1 acre of land,

while 4 households are landless. Another 15 households from the community own more than

1 acre but less than 2.5 acres ofland while only 4 households own more than 5 acres ofland.

Within the Mals as well, 8 households own less than 1 acre of land and another 5 households

own less than 2.5 acres of land. The Dalit household in the village was landless but so were

households from every other community in the village. It was noted that due to lack of

irrigation facilities and small landholding size, only subsistence agriculture can be practiced

and even this is not enough to sustain the household.

LITERACY

The substantive role played by the RC Mission in Gumla can be clearly witnessed in the

context of education. The Roman Catholic Dioscese was established in 1903 and focused on

education and health issues in the region. An interesting aspect of the education system in

Gumla is that due to the long and continued presence of the Roman Catholic (RC) mission,

very few 'non-christian' tribal population remains and most villages with tribal majority

population have a mission station and a mission primary school if not higher.

The Jharkhand state education department has sub-let the running of middle schools

to the RC mission in tribal-majority areas of such districts by giving some of them a

'minority recognition certificate' and a grant from the state education dept. In effect, all the

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,\ li·~rnti(.'~ll for Domestic \Vork fr(Hl1 Jlwrkhand L •

state education department run middle schools are in tribal minority villages or very large

villages (800 households and above) or in the small towns. This grant which is received is

erratic and delayed but the mission schools manage due to the funds that come to the schools

via the Church. The mission has been demanding recognition by the state education board to

pay government salaries to the mission school teachers (which is the bulk ofthe expenditure

in running the school) but they do not want to hand over administrative control and decision­

making over appointment of teachers to the state education department and so the tussle

continues. The district selected was characterized by a huge gender disparity in literacy rate.

The literacy rate for men was much lower than the women.

Table 4.9: Literacy Rate from Sindhupalchowk District Profile 2002 and Household Survey ofSample Village

Literacy Rate of Gumla District Literacy Rate of Surve ed Village Rural Rural Rural Rural Rural Rural Male Female Total Male Female Total

69.16% 52.47% 60.78% 50.3% 30.8% 40.5% (16~ (1271 (2931

Source: Census, 2001 and data collected from the village survey

The surveyed village has one school, a primary school (Class I to 5) with recently

built buildings for a government middle school. Class 6 has been added this year but the

remaining classes cannot be held due to unavailability ofteachers. The Dumri High School,

near the block headquarters is 10 kilometres away and is the only government funded school

in a 20 km radius where classes 6th to 12th can be accessed. However, due to the presence of

the Mission school in Nawadih (a neighbouring village), the population had access to better

quality and higher education which contributed to a higher literacy rate of the sample village.

Table 4.10: Literacy by age group and sex for migrant population

5 to 14 15 to 59 60 and above

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Literate 4 2 6 33 20 53 2 2 4

Illiterate 0 0 0 8 8 16 I 0 1

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.\li<nnlion for Domcslic \Vlwk from J. harkhand ~· .

Table 4.10 gives details of the literacy levels of non migrant male and female

population from the survey village. Most male and female respondents who were above the

age of 5 years but below the age of 14 were literate and currently pursuing their education

since state-provided primary education was available in the same village and hence accessible

for a nominal cost. However, costs of books and stationery had to be born by parents, some of

whom found it difficult to meet even the basic demands.

The influence of mission supported educational institutions can be explained by

looking at the 15 and above age group category. Most men and women in this age group

category are literate and the respondents attributed this factor to the presence of mission

education. The male and female migrant population above the age of 60 were also literate

since they had access to mission schools in their childhood and this education was free at the

time. Many of the domestic workers interviewed were literate, some had even completed

middle school but could not pursue further education due to lack of financial capabilities.

Table 4.11: Literacy by age group and sex for non-migrant population

0 to 14 15 to 59 60 and above

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Literate 43 39 82 74 61 135 10 3 13

Illiterate 31 38 69 20 49 69 14 20 34

Table 4.11 gives details of the literacy levels of non-migrant male and female

population from the survey village. The illiterate population were mostly dropouts who said

that they could not pursue their education since they had to work in the fields or help with the

housework. We can observe here that the drop out rate from the primary school in the village

is very high. While a majority of male and female respondents who were below the age of 14

were literate and currently pursuing their education, a substantial percentage were recorded as

illiterate out of which some were infants and were not in school yet.

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.\ ligralii.."~H flw f\..1mcst ic \Vork from Jlwrkhand

Almost 60% of male migrant workers were literate, even though the work

opportunities at home which were basically limited to working in the field or as casual

labour, did not require skills learnt at school. Being literate, however, provided them with the

opportunities to explore work opportunities outside the district, keep account of their earnings

and avoid being tricked by fraudsters. More women migrants in the age group of 15 to 59 are

literate as compared with the same non-migrant category.

WOMEN'S WORK

A separate block was canvassed as part of the household schedule to understand women's

work. This block was asked only to report women above age 15. The objective of collecting

this data was to observe if women viewed domestic work done by them within their

households as productive work, even though it was not paid work. They were asked about

'other' productive activities and also about their willingness to engage in paid work available

outside their household.

Over 83 percent of women reported spending most of their time (an average of 16

hours a day) on domestic work. Most women however, did not see domestic work done

within their households as productive work since it was not paid. Many of them also reported

that they were engaged in 'other' productive activities. At the same time, they were also

eager to accept productive work if it was made available to them. Further probing on the

nature of work undertaken by them other than household-related domestic work was done.

This other work includes maintenance of kitchen gardens, orchards etc, work in

household poultry, dairy, etc., free collection offish, small game, wild fruits, vegetables, etc.

for household consumption, free collection of fire-wood, cow-dung, cattle feed etc. for

household consumption, husking of paddy for household consumption Grinding of food­

grains for household consumption, making baskets and mats for household use, preparation

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of cow-dung cake for use as fuel in the household, sewing, tailoring, weaving etc. for

household use, tutoring of own children or others' children free of charge and bringing water

from outside the household premises. These responses are only for those women who

reported being engaged in other productive work along with usual domestic work. Most of

the women surveyed were engaged in more than one of these activities.

Table 4.12: Women's work

Percentage of women responding in affirmative to these questions: Jharkhand

Were you required to spend most of your time on domestic duties almost throughout the last 365 days? 83%

Along with your domestic duties are you also engaged in any other productive activities? 8% Do you consider all the work* done by you for the household as domestic work? 86%

In spite of your pre-occupation with domestic duties, are you willing to accept paid work if it is made available to you? 56% *Work includes both, tasks carried out within the household (cooking, cleaning, husking paddy) and outside the home (collecting firewood, water, working in the fields).

It was observed in the sample village that women were doing all sorts of productive activities

which involved moving out of the household boundary despite being engaged in household

work within the household boundary. A large percentage of women were engaged in free

collection of ftre-wood, cow-dung, cattle feed etc. for household consumption. The

percentage ofwomen bringing water from outside household premises was also very high. It

also appears very clearly that women do move out of the household boundary and are willing

to move out if work is made available to them as was reported by them in the previous table.

On a more direct question on their limitations and expectations from work outside home

boundary, large majority of them were willing to go outside the village boundary to work,

more so with many more women from the village finding paid work opportunities as

domestic workers.

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J\tigration for Domestic Work fromJharkhand

MIGRATION

In the sample village surveyed, it was found that from the total population of 482 persons, 80

persons had migrated. This figure includes both currently migrant persons and those who had

migrated earlier but are now living in the village. Since Jharkhand is a mining and industrial

state, a significant section of migrants in Jharkhand also migrates for factory work in

neighbouring areas as well as neighbouring states.

Chart 4.A: Migrant/Non migrant population as percentage of total population

Migrant and non-migrant as percentage of tota I population

Iii Migra nt Non-Migrant

17%

From Chart 4.A above, we can see that 16.59 percent of the population had ever

migrated or just under one-fifth the total population were migrants. Of the 80 persons

comprising the total migrant population, 48 were men and 32 were women. It was interesting

to note that the female migrant population was not much less as compared with the male

migrant population and the rate of migration indicated that by the end of 2015 it was likely

that number of migrant women workers would exceed the number of migrant men workers

from the village. The non migrant population was of402 persons ofwhich 192 were men and

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wligration fLll' Domestic Work from Jhar.khand

2 10 were women. The non migrant population co mprised 83.41 percent of the total

population.

MIGRATION BY DESTINATION

As depicted in Chart 4.8 below, the survey revealed that 4 percent of the total migrant c

population worked within Gumla district. About 10 percent of the migrant population worked

within Jharkhand but outside Gumla district. The remaining 86 percent migrated outside the

state but within India. The most popular city destination for migration from the surveyed

village is Delhi. Given the extent of poverty and agrarian distress in the village, there is

substantial migration, especially towards Delhi with Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan as

popular destinations for men working as construction workers or factory labour and Delhi for

women working as domestic labour.

Chart 4.8 : Migrant population by destination from Bandhua

Migrant Population by Destination

Outside State but within Country Outside District but within State Within District

4%

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Migration tL•r Domestic Work from Jharkhand

Migrant men went to many destinations in search of work. They travelled thousands

of kilometres to far away destinations like Assam, Sikkim, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Punjab,

Himachal Pradesh and the Andaman islands, most ly as road and building construction

workers. Students who had migrated for higher education were located at urban centres like

Bangalore, Calcutta, Lucknow and Delhi. Delhi was however, the most preferred destination

for both men and women.

The destination choices for migrant women workers were limited as most respondents

were aware of work opportunities as paid domestic workers in Delhi and had little knowledge

of other options to fmd decently paid work. As shown in Chart 4.C below, in Bandhua, an

overwhelming 98 percent of migrant domestic workers had worked in Delhi while a

miniscule one percent each had worked in Calcutta and within Jharkhand.

Chart 4.E: Female Migration for domestic work by destination

Female Migration for Domestic Work by Destination

DELHI CALC UTI A Within JHARKHAND

98%

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.\ 1i <2,J":ltion for Domcs lic \\'liYk fJ \ "Jll lhnrkha.nd L •

Take for example, the case of Meena Tirkey, a 16 year old Oraon girl from Bandhua.

She has three brothers, Dinesh who studied till class 5, Krishna who studied till class 3,

Manoj who is in school and a widowed mother. Her father died due to an unknown illness

when she was four years old and her mother went mad due to the loss of her husband. She

didn' t go to school as there were financial constraints on the family after her father ' s death.

Meena was 13 years old in November 2003 when she went to Delhi the first time. Her aunt's

sister told her about it. She caught the Utkal Express from Ranchi and reached Delhi in 27-28

hours. Meena' s aunt took her to an office in Kotla, Delhi owned by a Mr. Ekka. She stayed

there for a day or two along with her aunt ' s sister after which she was employed for 2000

rupees a month.

Meena was employed by a Bihari family living in Mayur Vihar to cook and look after

their 2 year old son. She was paid 1000 rupees a month along with food and clothes. Meena

managed to save 10,000 rupees by the time she returned to Bandhua in May 2005. She used

this money for the treatment ofher younger brother Krishna who couldn't walk and he was

able to attend school after his treatment. Meena returned to Delhi to look for a job on 22"d

August 2006 along with other girls like Sangeeta, Phudo Kumari and Arti from Bandhua.

They went to Sahid Enterprises located at Moti Nagar near Punjabi Bagh in Delhi. She was

employed the very next day by a Sikh family and she has never heard from the rest of the

girls again. Meena was made to work very hard. Serving a large family of 5 all day, she had

to wake up by 6 am and after working continuously all day long, she could only sleep by 2

am every day. She was made to do all the housework, cleaning the house, washing utensils,

cooking food, making tea several times while the housewife watched television all day and

never helped her with the work. Unable to cope with the amount of work,

Meena complained to her employers but got harshly reprimanded for her laziness. She

grew weaker as they didn't give her enough to eat. She developed a pain in the chest and

suffered for a long time since she was scared of approaching her employers now. She finally

told them that she wanted to leave after the husband in the house threatened to hit her for her

laziness. Hence, Meena left the house and was paid for two weeks of work. She went to the

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.\ li ~~L1 1 k'll for [)~._'lm cs lic \V rk from Jharkhand

station and bought herself a ticket to return home. With a few rupees in her pocket, she

traveled back to Gumla and then reached Bandhua with no money left. When asked about her

experience as a domestic worker and what attracted her to go, Meena said,

1 had heard about Delhi earlier since several women from Bandhua were working there. When they return home during Christmas, they wear beautiful clothes and bring expensive gifts. I realized that more work was available in Delhi and one could earn a lot of money there. I also wanted to see the big city since I had heard so much about it. Moreover, the financial situation at home was worsening. I couldn' t attend school after my father ' s death and my brothers were in school. I wanted to earn some money for my family and so I left for Delhi without informing them.

The first time I went to Delhi, my employer was very nice. She kept me well and took me out everywhere with the child. I accompanied them to parties, picnics and weekend outings and enjoyed myself very much. I began to miss home and so I wanted to leave. My memsaab gave me all my dues and bought me a ticket to Ranchi. She asked me to contact her if I wanted to return to Delhi and she called me a few months later since she was moving to United States and wanted me to come along. I didn't want to leave my family then, so I refused.

This year, I decided to go along with other girls from the village. We left without telling our familes since they would have refused to let us go. Some of us wanted to see the big city, others wanted money to buy expensive clothes while some went to save up for their dowry. I had a bad experience and don't keep well so I returned. I have no address or numbers for the other girls and the man at Sahid Enterprises didn't tell me wither when I asked. The pain in my chest is increasing and I'm feeling weaker day by day. The doctor says I have a heart problem.'

MIGRATION BY TYPE OF WORK

As Chart 4.C shows, of the 48 male migrants, 13 were employed in construction work. The

next largest category by type of work was factory work in which 8 male migrants got

employment. The only form of formal employment by the state and accessed by the surveyed

population was in the Indian army (1) Indian Railways (2) and Jharkhand police (2). Two

male workers were employed as agricultural labour and one migrant worker each was

employed as a plumber and a sweeper. Two male migrants worked as drivers while another 4

Page I 94

Migration fL11' Domestic work rrom Jharkhand

were employed as guards out of which one migrant latergot a job with the Indian Rail ways.

There was one male domestic worker working in Delhi and he had worked as agricultural

labour earlier. One male migrant was also employed as hotel help . There were 5 male

migrants from the village who had migrated for higher education.

It is important to note that migrant men had many more options in type of work

available at their destination. This was partly due to the educational access that was made

available through the mission since the employment received needed a certain level of

education. One worker each was employed as a typist and a teacher while 2 migrant men

were employed as peons. Most men travel outside the state (towards Delhi) in search of work

as construction or factory labour. There are some cases where men have studied upto Class X

and XI but due to lack of jobs, are practicing backward agriculture in the village as well as

migrating to Himachal Pradesh and other northern states to work as construction labour.

Many educated men are also migrating for fac tory work.

Chart 4.C: Male migrants by type ofwork

No. of Male Migrants by Type of Work

13

*One has worked as Construction Worker as well. **One has worked as Agricultural Labour also. ***One has worked in the Railways as well.

Page I 95

.\ li ~~rnti0n for D0mcstic \Vork from Jharkhand

A plausible reason to attribute to the low agricultural productivity is the lack of

manpower or labour in the village itself. The elders in the village explain that since many

young people are migrating towards Himachal Pradesh and even N agaland to serve as

agricultural labour, very few hands are available to till the fields during the year. On the other

hand, some people say that low productivity, lack of irrigation facilities and the practice of

backward agriculture is responsible for the scale of migration. Hence, a vicious circle

emerges.

An interesting aspect is that higher education levels do not necessari ly result in the

greater availability of work opportunities. Several scheduled tribe men, especially Roman

Catholic men have access to education at a very minimal cost but the number of jobs that

they can be absorbed into is lesser than the availability of skilled labour. Hence, they have to

return to backward agriculture as a last resort and some refuse to do so since they have an

education and want to earn better.

Earlier, educated men had the option of joining the army after finishing class 10. This

also served as a disincentive to study ahead but the opportunity of a regular salaried job was

not missed by many even though they had to lead a tough life. Most men in the age group of

40-55 have taken early retirement from the army and can live comfortably on the pension

provided by the government. This recruitment however, has decreased and so the army option

is not easily available anymore.

Chart 4.D shows the occupational distribution of migrant women. Of the 32 migrant

women from the surveyed village, 21 were employed in paid domestic work while 4 migrant

women had migrated with a male relative and were engaged in unpaid domestic and care

work for the migrant family. These two categories together comprise 78 percent of migrant

women population.

Page I 96

wligrati~.-'n i~_tr Domestic Work from]harkhand

Chart 4.0 : Migrant women by type of work

Migrant Women by Type of Work

3%

Tota l live in PAID DW

Total live in UNPAID DW

Study

liii CW

Agri Labour

Nurse

liiil Factory Work

Six percent of migrant women were employed as nurses; this was again due to the

training provided by mission led initiatives. Seven percent of migrant women were employed

in construction work, they were mostly Mal women who had accompanied their husbands to

their work destination. The share of migrant women who worked as agricultural labour and in

factory work was 3 percent each.. Only 3 percent of the female migrant population migrated

for educational purposes. This is perhaps due to better educational facil ities available in the

region as compared to the Nepal case study.

MIGRATION BY DURATION

From Chart 4.F, we can observe that only 4 percent of the female migrant population

migrated for less than one year with only I percent migrating for less than 6 months while 96

percent of the migrant women from the surveyed village migrated for more than a year. This

was applicable mostly to domestic workers, students and women who had accompanied their

Page I 97

Migrati~..."'~n r'~..."'~r Domestic \Vork irom]harkhand

male relatives to their destination. The average duration was about 2 years in the case of

domestic workers, especially those who were international migrants. There were some cases

as well where women had migrated for domestic work for several years.

Chart 4.F : Duration of female migration

Duration of Female Migration Iii More than a year 6 months but less than 1 year Less than 6 months

96%

The case of Sarita Kujur makes it clear. Sarita Kujur is the oldest domestic worker

( 45) from SSL and is currently employed in Delhi. She has been working in Delhi for the past

25 years and sends money home regularly. Due to erratic rainfall and low levels of

agricultural productivity, Sarita's family which includes her mother, two brothers and their

families are dependent on her to meet basic needs. Sarita has changed her place of work

several times.

According to her mother, at one place, the driver of the employer forced himself on

her and she gave birth to a baby girl. Neighbours say that she had a relationship with a man

from a nearby village and they had an illegitimate child since he refused to marry her

Page I 98

,\ lis n lioll f~._) r [).,)mcs li c \Vor k from JharkJ1a11d

eventually. Her daughter, Anees is 8 years old now and she studies in Class 2 at Bandhua

Government School. Sarita' s mother Maxima Kujur told us:

'Sarita lost heart after she failed Class X examinations and didn't want to continue studies. For us too ,it was financially difficult to send her to school and so she decided to go work in Delhi. We can' t complain about Anees since Sarita supports the entire family and this is a fall out that God gave as punishment to a woman who went outside for work' .

Sarita has also helped Susheela Tirkey to get a job as a domestic worker in Delhi. She

works across the road from Sarita. Susheela later, took her brother Roshan to Delhi as well

and he currently works as a driver in the same house where Susheela works. When asked

about domestic workers and perceptions, neighbours remember a time when Susheela ' s

mother died and her employer sent her back home by flight. The excitement with the

opportunity of air travel made her visit home a memorable event for the entire village.

Several respondents mentioned various reasons for women migrants for domestic

work, the nexus of jobbers being a crucial factor. Several girls have disappeared from

Bandhua, they ran away to find work and their parents fear that they have been pushed into

prostitution. Sister Jemma of the National Domestic Workers Welfare Trust, Ranchi

corroborates this fear and said that a large number of girls had been rescued from Delhi and

Bombay and were returned home in the recent few years. Collecting money for dowry was

another prominent reason for girls to migrate. Poverty and lack of work opportunities also

push women to migrate. The money-spending capacity of women on clothes, make-up,

jewelry etc. on returning for their holidays is another factor that entices women to the big

city. Women also feel that this is the only way they can travel and see the world before they

get married and are tied to household responsibilities.

These women work in the city as domestic workers for very little wages and are rarely

allowed to step out of the house they work in. Their world is the limited to the apartment they

work in. The salary which is saved up over the year is given to them when they return home

Page I 99

Ali ~?,rnl i () Jl i'(\r 0 .. ..'1m cslic \York fr()mJlwrkh<md

for a holiday. Living in the city amidst aggressive consumerism and closely watching their

upper middle class women employers, they yearn to dress the same and look the same.

Gurnla provides several opportunities during those 15 days to spend this money on

consumables, fairs are organized and shops are open till late.

Women also bring back much required relief from financial strife at home. A pair of

bulls can finally be bought for next year, medical treatment can be undertaken, new clothes

are welcome and commodities that can be purchased only by cash-money can be finally be

bought. But, it is seldom that women find a conducive and safe working environment with

decent pay. Grace Kullu is 18 years old and has 3 sisters, Mary (15), Sheela in Class 5 and

Anugra studying in Class 1. Her father Marcos and mother Mary are cultivators and have no

other source of income apart from irregular crop yield.

In 2005, Grace went along with Sapna Toppo hailing from Naugadih, a village 3

kilometers away. Sapna told her that she worked in a colony and a family was looking for

domestic help. So she went along and was employed with a family in Noida. She was paid

1700 rupees a month. Grace returned home a few months ago since she developed a pain and

swelling in her leg and her employers didn't get her treated properly. They gave her pain

killers and she was made to work in spite ofher difficulty. She stopped working for them and

contacted Sapna who helped her return to Bandhua. Grace has a large swelling on her leg and

is unable to move due to the pain and loss of sensation. When asked about her experience,

she said that she missed home and so she returned but did not mention how she got hurt

during her stay in Delhi.

Chart 4.G shows the duration of migration for male migrants. Only 2 percent migrated

for less than 6 months. This phenomenon was elaborated by the respondents who explained

that the cost of migrating for work could not be recovered within 6 months. It took that much

time just to make ends meet and only after a few months of working at the destination could

migrants begin to save money to bring home. It was also noted that an overwhelming

majority, i.e. 94 percent of male migrants worked at their place of destination for more than a

Page 1100

J\tigration iL•r Domestic Work from]harkhand

year. Several male migrants were employed in the private sector, as drivers, guards, cooks

and leave was not permitted before a year of work was completed.

Chart 4.0: Duration of male migration

Duration of Male Migration I More than a year 6 mon ths but less than 1 yea r Less than 6 months

94%

Respondents in the surveyed village were also asked about the help that they received

in migration. Most men reported that they found work in the destination through friends at the

place of migration or through family member at the place of migration. This aspect shows

that the kin networks of the communities in the surveyed area were strong and provided

reliable information about employment opportunities. For example, if a family member or

relative took up a contract to provide construction labour, he would take along residents from

the same village that he belonged. Some male migrants also reported that they received no

help for migration and had reached the destination since they had ' heard' of the availability

of employment opportunities and decided to explore them. Recruitment for the army or for

jobs with skill training like plumber, peon etc. was also done through the kin network.

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iVligrativn for Domestic Work from Jharkhand

MIGRAT ION BY CASTE/RACE AND LANDH O LDING STATUS

If we now disaggregate the migration data by caste, landholding and migrant status, we can

observe community specific migration trends. Chart 4.H above clearly depicts these trends. It

is evident now that across landholding categories, migration is taking place, that is, agrarian

distress and food insufficiency is driving migration from the village. Oraons are the largest

migrant group and own land across landholding size categories, yet, they have migrant

household members. Only 10 out of 43 Oraon household are non-migrant households. On the

other hand, the migration rates within other communities are much lower. Out of 13 OBC

households only 5 are migrant households.

Chart 4.H: Households by caste, landholding and migrant status of surveyed village

70

60

50

40 Iii Landless

30 0-1 acre

1-2.5acre 20

Iii 2.5- 5 acre

10 Above 5 acres

0

Note: There was 1 dalit household in the sample collected which was Landless and had no migrant

household members.

Page I 102

status is disaggregated by caste/race, we find that out of 43 Oraon households, only 13 own

upto 1 acre of land, while 4 households are landless. Another 15 households from the

community own more than 1 acre but less than 2.5 acres ofland while only 4 households own

more than 5 acres of land. Within the upper caste Mal community as well, 8 households own

less than 1 acre of land and another 5 households own less than 2.5 acres of land. While the

Dalit household in the village was landless but so were households from every other

community in the village. It was noted that only subsistence agriculture could be practiced

due to lack of irrigation facilities and small landholding size, and led to food insecurity,

which pushed the population to migrate basically due to distress reasons.

An interesting aspect which emerged from this study was regarding the education

system in Gumla is that due to the long and continued presence of the Roman Catholic (RC)

mission, most tribes followed Christianity and most villages with a tribal majority population

have a mission station and a mission primary school if not higher. It was interesting to note

that despite the fact that most households were extremely poor; the male and female migrant

population above the age of 60 were also literate since they had access to mission schools in

their childhood and this education was free at the time. Many of the domestic workers

interviewed were literate, some had even completed middle school but could not pursue

further education due to financial difficulties or since they had failed in class and resorted to

dropping out of school. Almost 60% of male migrant workers from Bandhua were literate,

while work opportunities close to home were limited to working in the field or as casual

labour. Lack of such opportunities despite moderate educational levels led most of them to

explore work opportunities outside the district. These migrant workers refused to carry out

agricultural work which they viewed as degrading given their educational qualifications.

More women migrants in the age group of 15 to 59 are literate as compared with the

same non-migrant category despite the relatively higher literacy rate of 52.47 percent

recorded for Bandhua. Despite higher educational levels and willingness of literate women to

take up paid work, over 80 percent of women reported spending most of their time (an

average of 16 hours a day) on domestic work. Most women, did not see domestic work done

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.\-li<~mtion for Domestic \\\)rk fr()l11 Jharklwnd ~ '

within their households as productive work since it was not paid. Many of them also reported

that they were engaged in 'other' productive activities, tasks which had to be carried out

beyond the boundaries of their homes.

Almost 17 percent ofthe total population had ever migrated or just under one-fifth the

total population were migrants. Of the 80 persons comprising the total migrant population, 48

were men and 32 were women. Another aspect is that higher education levels for men do not

necessarily result in the greater availability of work opportunities. Several scheduled tribe

men, especially Roman Catholic men have access to education at a very minimal cost but the

number of jobs that they can be absorbed into is lesser than the availability of skilled labour.

Hence, they have to return to backward agriculture as a last resort and some refuse to do so

since they have an education and want to earn better. Of the 32 migrant women from the

surveyed village, 21 were employed in paid domestic work while 4 migrant women had

migrated with a male relative and were engaged in unpaid domestic and care work for the

migrant family. These two categories of paid and unpaid domestic work, together comprised

78 percent of migrant women population. Only 6 percent of migrant women were employed

as nurses; these were mostly Oraon women who had undergone the necessary training

provided by mission led initiatives.

It was interesting to note that the female migrant population was not much less as

compared with the male migrant population, but the type of work done by migrant women

differed depending upon their caste/ racial status. Upper caste women from landed

households migrated for further education, upper caste women from poor households

migrated with a family member, mostly their husband for construction work while Oraon

women migrated mostly for paid domestic work. An overwhelming 96 percent of the migrant

women from the surveyed village migrated for more than a year. This was applicable mostly

to domestic workers, students and women who had accompanied their male relatives to their

destination. The average duration was about 2 years in the case of migrant paid domestic

workers.

Page I lOS

Another interesting fact that emerges is that there are female migrant domestic

workers in each landholding size category within the Oraons. There are no female domestic

workers from the upper castes though. An interesting reason for this disparity was offered by

Suraj Mahto, a resident ofBandhua, who explained,

'Hindu women get married at an early age, as early as 11 years sometimes. On the other hand, the Church forbids the marriage of women before they tum 18. Hence, when Oraon girls drop out from school, they are encouraged to work as domestic workers till they tum 18 and are eligible to marry according to their religion.'

What clearly emerges that it is not just landlessness that drives migration but

extremely small operational holdings which fail to provide subsistence is probably the main

factor for household members choosing to migrate. Yet, there are no migrants from the Dalit

community who are landless. Unlike Nepal, upper castes prefer not to migrate; they do not

need to survive on agriculture since they have other avenues of income, such as money

lending, available to them.

MAJOR FINDINGS

With over 90 million estimated domestic workers in India (lSI 2008) and a large proportion

of them belonging to Jharkhand, the above research study will be useful to comprehend the

nature and mechanisms operating for the internal migration for domestic work in India. The

district of Gumla was selected for the study since a large number of migrants from Jharkhand

belong to this district.

It was observed that the in the sample village ofBandhua, there were mostly marginal

farmers since 59 out of 88 households reported land holding of less than 2.5 acres. There

were 10 landless families in the village. Only 19 households owned between 2.5 to 5 acres of

land while another and 10 households owned more than 5 acres of land. When landholding

Page 1103

Therefore, it is evident that across landholding categories, migration is taking place,

that is, agrarian distress and food insufficiency is driving migration from the village. Oraons

are the largest migrant group and own land across landholding size categories, yet, they have

migrant household members. Only 10 out of 43 Oraon household are non-migrant

households. On the other hand, the migration rates within other communities are much lower.

Out of 13 OBC households only 5 are migrant households. While the presence of extremely

small operational holdings which fail to provide subsistence is probably the main factor, we

can see that educational levels as well as aspirational values play a very important role in

shaping migrant choices.

In the following chapter, we will compare the findings of the study conducted in

Jharkhand with the findings of the study conducted in Sindhupalchok, Nepal. This will enable

us to better understand the complexities that must inform our outlook on the issues

surrounding migration for domestic work.

Page 1106