Maid in India

Maid in India
factories with promises of a well-paid job, comfortable accommodation, three nutritious meals a day
and opportunities for training and schooling. Clothes and household articles are also given to
attract the parents. Sending the girls to work in the mills where they will receive daily meals is a
relief for the household; the (small) income girls bring in is a much needed addition to the means of
the family. The lump sum offered to the girls is a way to meet the social pressure to purchase
jewels for their daughters’ marriage.
Workers are recruited through a network of brokers spread across the state of Tamil Nadu. Many
factory bus drivers also act as brokers. In some cases, workers are employed through a labour
agency. For their recruitment a broker will receive 500 to 1,000 Rupees (around €7 - €15) 16 for
each worker he or she brings to the factory. Recruitment takes place throughout the year. A range
of incentives, financial and otherwise, are in place to motivate recruiters to bring in new workers,
especially during production peaks. In order to convince the girls and their parents, recruiters
present the deal as attractively as possible. The promises are not written down and only once the
girls enter the factories does it become clear that many promises will never be fulfilled.
Workers are recruited from all over Tamil Nadu. The chances of local men and women to find
employment in nearby textile and garment factories are decreasing. Over the last year recruitment
from other states has increased. Migrants from Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa,
Manipur and Meghalaya are recruited to work in the Tamil Nadu spinning mills and garment
factories. A Tamil language newspaper article estimates that in Tirupur district alone the number of
migrants from Northern states who work in the textile and garment factories exceeds 100.000. 17
These workers often do not speak the local language and have no family or friends nearby whom
they can resort to if they encounter problems. The dependency of the women workers on their
employers has therefore increased.
16
For this report the following exchange rate has been used: 1 Indian Rupee = 0.0153643 Euro (exchange rate of 14
February 2012). The website www.xe.com was used in order to determine the exchange rate.
17 “Thinathanthi” , 02.04.2012
18