Domestic Servants - A Vanishing Tribe

With changing times, they too have changed a lot. But they are still indispensable.

- Kamla Menon

Domestic help is necessary for saving the time and energy of a home manager but reliable servants are hard to find. Here are the ways to keep them satisfied.

According to the latest data of Delhi Labour Organisation, there are more than five crore domestic servants in India, the majority of which is consisting of women.

The servant problem is one of the major issues discussed by home managers at any gathering. It has come to the fore in most households, assuming a lot of importance. Only an enviable few can boast of good, reliable and loyal domestic servants.

This problem has become so acute in recent years. The reasons are many. There are other avenues opening for lower-middle-class women to get work these days. Small-scale factories and industries are sprouting in every nook and corner.

Naturally, women find employment at such places in a more decent way of earning their livelihood.

The outflow of labourers to the Gulf countries is another reason for the scarcity of this much-needed lot. The money remitted by these labourers is more than enough to meet the needs of their families back home. Then why should their women slog, cleaning and scrubbing at other peoples' houses?

I remember very clearly the elderly woman who worked for my grandmother for many years. Now, I feel amazed at the amount of hard work she used to put in daily to get various types of dishes cooked for our family, which had had over a dozen members.