Mudra does its bit for underage workers, breaks Phase II of campaign for National Domestic Workers Movement

They work in homes, carpet making units, in dingy rooms handling dangerous explosives to make those Diwali sparklers, yet their lives couldn’t be more dark and abused. They are the little ones, forced to eke out a living when they should be leading a carefree life.

Fighting for their cause is the NGO National Domestic Workers’ Movement for Underage Workers. Mudra has unveiled the second phase of campaign for the NGO. The main focus of the campaign will be to sensitise Mumbaiites to the problem of underage domestic workers.

Said Mudra’s Associate Creative Director, Sukumar Menon, “The purpose of our media campaign is to create awareness about the vulnerability of children engaged in domestic work. The National Domestic Workers’ Movement works for the empowerment of domestic workers in India. Domestic workers, particularly children, are routinely denied their basic rights. They comprise one of the most vulnerable and exploited groups of the unorganised sector and are not protected by law.”

He added, “Our broad objectives for the campaign is to raise awareness about the vulnerability of children in domestic work, create a link between development and education of all children, make employers realise that the development of the country is linked to their own welfare, therefore, send all children to school, to sensitise people towards the child’s right to education.”

Elaborating on the campaign, Menon said that 50-60 hoardings had been put up at key places. “We have advertised in four magazines like ‘Showtime’, ‘Savvy’, ‘Health and Nutrition’, etc. Our ad budget is in the range of Rs 6 lakh to Rs 7 lakh for the hoardings and magazines. We are breaking a TVC next month.”

“Through the campaign we are addressing the employers who take children engaged in domestic work for granted. The general public justifies child domestic workers by means of societal myths – that child domestic work is a solution to poverty, child domestic work is non-hazardous and the children are adopted and find a home,” Menon said.

“The desired audience response we are looking at is we want to sensitise and make the audience feel socially responsible. We also want to raise awareness of a civil society where every child goes to school,” he further said.