Because Only Together We Can

Build a World Where All Women Are Safe, Strong & Valued

Promotion of Women’s Rights and Empowerment

Social Security Schemes and Entitlements

To ensure financial assistance and allay financial difficulties the following schemes and entitlements were procured for the eligible beneficiaries: Pan Card, Aadhaar Card, Voter ID, Bank Account, Ayushman Card, Toilet Scheme, Birth Certificate, Death Certificate, Arunodoi, PMAY, Ration Card, LPG connection, MLA tin scheme, Old Age pension, Job Card, PMSBY and many more.

Capacity Building for Domestic workers Group Leaders

To achieve several significant objectives like: common vision, efficient and effective group functioning, self-reliance, incremental skills and knowledge on concerned subjects, and induction of confidence, independence and inter-dependence, this particular training was carried out in Kohima, Dimapur, Churachandpur, Aizawl and Champhai specifically for the domestic work group leaders. As such, 250 were trained across 33 meetings.

What We Do

01. Awareness Meetings on Social Security Schemes and Entitlements

To enable that the domestic workers have access to their rights and entitlements, a training called “Awareness Meetings on Social Security Schemes and Entitlements” was carried out a number of times, in such project locations as Churachandpur, Aizawl, Kohima, Champhai and Dimapur. In aggregate, 17 programmes were undertaken this year alone in which 571 participants participated and were duly enlightened.

02. Training Group Leaders on Working as Collectives

To enable the domestic workers to work cooperatively, a number of trainings were organized to fill in the significant group collaborative gaps. As such, the trainings instilled in them the legally protective guarantees like fundamental, women’s and human rights. They were also capacitated on problem-solving techniques to adequately respond to crisis situations and methods of conflict resolution to ensure that differences are resolved amicably to subsequently maintain group tolerance and harmony.

03. Campaign to Introduce Minimum Wage

This program was conducted only in Kohima and Tura. A Poster Campaign was done in Kohima on 30th of September 2023 at the Post Office Head Quarter, Kohima, whereas in Tura an awareness campaign on Minimum Wage was carried out on 9th of August 2023 at Stephan Hall Matchakolgre. The said campaigns were successfully completed and participated by a large number of participants. In Meghalaya the Domestic Workers are included in the schedule of employment however a specific wage for domestic workers hasn’t been fixed yet. In Kohima, the campaign is anticipated to bring some tangible results in the coming days for the domestic workers.

04. Annual Convention for Domestic Workers

A 3-day residential programme called “Annual Convention Meet of Domestic Workers from the 12 cities of Northeast” was organized at CDI in Guwahati from 16th-20th November, 2023. The theme of the convention was “Collective Strength for a Progressive Development of Domestic Workers”. Domestic workers from 12 cities participated in the event with their respective field staff and coordinators. The training sessions were covered by renowned experts, also incorporating a cultural programme at the end of each day.

05. One day training course on Social and professional topics

Recognizing the adage “the more you know, the more valuable you become”, the domestic workers were involved in this particular initiative to enhance their social and professional expertise, so that they might possess incremental bargaining power and social respect. The trainings were designed for both seasoned and unseasoned domestic workers, and their involvement greatly benefited them.

06. Placement Hub

The primary objective of the existence of placement hub is to ensure that the domestic workers receive contractual based placement to prevent and minimize exploitation regarding work benefits and at the workplace. The contract is a legally binding document and the employers are expected to adhere to the stated terms and conditions. As such, domestic were assisted in finding placement by the head office and its units. Short-term training was made available to those who were specifically placed directly from CDI.

Success Stories

Life’s Twists and Turns...

Ms. Cecilia Haokip, born to a destitute family in Churachandpur, Manipur, is the second eldest among 5 siblings. Despite the miserable financial condition, her father had made extreme efforts to educate them, however, he unexpectedly passed away when Ms. Cecilia was only 12 years old. This unanticipated event compelled the siblings to drop out of school, work and earn to compensate for the financial losses they were undergoing due to their father’s demise, while completely unaware of another upcoming life’s foreboding twist.

A week later, Ms. Cecilia’s mother eloped with a man. Just before the fateful event, she had entrusted her daughters to her relatives. Ms. Cecilia was sent to a relative living in Guwahati where she worked as a domestic worker. Unfortunately, after six months, the family had to return to Manipur but Ms. Cecilia was unwilling.

Therefore, she was entrusted to another kindred tribal family. However, the present family was unlike the first as they inflicted daily verbal and physical abuse which worsened over time. When she could no longer bear the mistreatment, she escaped.

In the eerie early morning of 21 September, 2023, she ran away with nothing but a pair of clothes and traced her steps to a fellow domestic worker, who used to work in the former employers’ home. The news of the incident reached Mrs. Chacha, a domestic workers’ group leader. She then informed an FDWA staff. The staff further briefed the incident to Sr. Rose Paite, the director of CDI, who then effectively rehabilitated her

When She had a Girl Child...

Mrs. Dipali’s world came crashing down the moment she gave birth to a daughter, her husband who wanted a boy blamed his wife for the misfortune. In a drunken rage, he endlessly torturSed his wife and his daughter almost on a daily basis. He even refused to educate her claiming that girls had no right to education, their chief purpose in life was to work in the kitchen and serve their husbands.

Seeing that that there was no hope, Mrs. Dipali left her husband as she wanted her daughter to excel in life and career. To earn their upkeep, she started working as a part-time domestic worker in two households and enrolled her daughter in a formal school.

42 year old Mrs. Dipali, who is a resident of Santola in Mirza became a part of the CDI when she was identified by one of the staff, and since then has partaken in all alternative livelihood training programmes. The programmes have facilitated her in learning a variety of livelihood skills like making detergent and incense sticks. She then started her own start-up venture in which she makes and sells detergent powder. Her business has taken off and making good profit and the future outlook is quite positive. Now, she is able to run the household and support her daughter’s education by working as a domestic worker and running her own income generating business which greatly complements her household finance. She appreciated the staff and CDI for all the help. Even though she acknowledge tha toughness of working and running a business, she is quite happy that she is able to educate her daughter and promote her well-being as it only she is alive only for her daughter.

Talk to us

Kindly feel free to contact us for any queries regarding the services we offer. We are always open to talk about your problems, so that we can provide adequate help and support, and to create opportunities, especially for the betterment of girl child and women.