Skilled caregivers and trained domestic workers can be a boon to the elderly. Ankita Borthakur, Head Advocacy and Business Development, DWSSC talks about how they are redefining this segment through skilling.
What is the prime objective of DWSSC? When was it formed?
Domestic Workers Sector Skill Council (DWSSC) was formed in 2016 under the aegis of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), as a not-for-profit company, registered under the Companies Act, 2013 (Sec 8). It was created with the support from the International Labour Organization (ILO), Ministry of Labour & Employment and a few civil society organisations connected to Prayas JAC Society.
This body is responsible for training and designating the training providers and assessing bodies. They also create national level occupational standards, curriculum and content for multiple job-roles within households like housekeeping, cooking, caregiving ,etc. The purpose is to define key sectors wherein Domestic Workers (nearly 20 million) can find employment and to identify critical roles and associated skill gap.
Today, we have established 160+ training centres across the country and certified four lakh people under various forms of programme. Currently, we have nine job roles ranging from General Housekeeper to Elderly Caretaker.
What kind of collaborative work do you do with advocacy and industry partners?
The demand for reliable domestic workers is huge and there is increased expectations from both the households/employers and domestic workers.
DWSSC being the umbrella organisation between the government and non-government stakeholders is working in tandem with NGOs, RWAs, training partners and industry partners to cater to both the needs of employers and domestic workers.
Two of our most important stakeholders are industry partners and advocacy partners. Our advocacy partners are grass root NGOs through whom we reach out to households, domestic workers and trade unions to spread awareness on the importance of skill development of domestic workers. Our industry partners are organisations, which provide employment opportunities to our trained and certified workers, while ensuring the satisfaction of the households/industries who hire them.
Skilled manpower is a big issue in terms of home care services for seniors, how are you helping to fill this gap?
The care economy is growing as the demand for elderly care is increasing. It is projected that India has 103.9 million elderly which is all set to rise by 12% by 2025. Thus, there will be huge demand for elderly caregivers in the coming years. However, we also need to understand that the role of caregiver for an elderly person is always entrusted with a huge level of responsibility and skill. To fill the gap between demand and supply as well as skill, DWSSC, in association with the stakeholders, has developed a job role named ‘Elderly Caretaker (Non Clinical)’ which have been mapped for Households/Institutions/Academy across the country. It is aligned to the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and are created on the basis of relevant Industry requirements and feedback.
How does this platform benefit our senior citizens?
All our Elderly Caretaker (Non-Clinical) candidates are government certified, duly trained and assessed before being finalised for placement purposes. They are given practical training on their job roles and activities and thus are completely skilled in carrying out one of the most crucial operational roles in the domestic worker segment taking care of an elderly person who may or may not have any disability but will not be bedridden.
DWSSC also intends to get involved in the study of state-wise availability and requirement of skilling in geriatric care and domestic workers and other skilling requirements in the care sector.
Do you regularly engage with senior citizens to understand their needs better?
DWSSC continuously engages with senior citizen community at various levels from care homes to residential societies. Before we went ahead with creating this job role, we connected with the organisations that deal with elderly care and interacted with seniors to understand what they expect from a caregiver in terms of skills and expertise. Based on this feedback, we designed the curriculum which is aimed at benefitting the seniors. We are also connecting with care homes to build a Centre of Excellence for training of elderly caretaker (non- clinical).