Context:

• The Union Budget 2026–27 proposes to create a strong care ecosystem by training 1.5 lakh multiskilled caregivers in geriatric and allied care under the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). This step is important as India’s demand for care services is increasing.
• However, the proposal highlights a contradiction. While the government plans to train new care professionals, it does not address the condition of over five million women already working in the care system.
• These include ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and helpers, and mid-day meal workers.
• These workers provide essential health, nutrition and childcare services, but they are still classified as ‘volunteers’ rather than regular employees.
• As a result, they remain excluded from the formal care ecosystem that the government aims to strengthen.

Women Care Workers: A Shadow Labour Force

• Women such as Anganwadi workers, ASHAs, and mid-day meal workers form the backbone of India’s health, nutrition, and childcare services.
• They play a crucial role in delivering welfare programmes across the country.
• Despite their essential role, these workers operate in uncertain and insecure conditions.
• They receive low honorariums, and lack formal employment contracts, paid leave, and maternity benefits.
• Limited and Fragmented Support
  • Some support is provided through state-level honorarium increases, gratuity benefits, and national schemes like Ayushman Bharat and Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maandhan. However, these measures vary across states and remain limited.
  • India’s care economy relies heavily on this large feminised workforce, yet the state continues to classify them as ‘honorary workers’ rather than formal employees.
  • This limits their access to labour rights and social security protections.

Care Work in India: A Gendered Reality

• Care work in India reflects deep gender inequalities. According to the 2024 Time Use Survey, about 41% of women aged 15–59 spend 140 minutes daily on caregiving, while only 21.4% of men spend about 74 minutes.
• Care Work Viewed as Women’s Duty
  • India’s welfare system often treats care work as an extension of women’s domestic responsibilities.
  • Many women providing health and welfare services are labelled as ‘volunteers’, even though their work requires significant skill and effort.
  • Because care work is considered ‘natural’ for women, it is often undervalued and poorly paid.
  • This creates a cycle where care work is not recognised as skilled labour, keeping a large female workforce in informal and insecure employment.
• Neglect of the Existing Care Workforce
  • While recent policies aim to train new care workers, they do not adequately address the needs of the existing workforce.
  • Current workers already perform complex tasks requiring community knowledge, coordination, and emotional labour, yet remain underpaid and unprotected.
  • India’s care workers are central to the functioning of the welfare state.
  • Strengthening the care economy will require greater financial investment and a shift in societal attitudes, recognising care work as skilled labour deserving fair wages and protections.

Reimagining India’s Care Economy

• Ending the ‘Volunteer’ Label
  • India needs to move beyond classifying care workers as ‘volunteers’.
  • The Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling in “Dharam Singh vs State of U.P.” stated that work that is continuous and essential to an institution cannot remain temporary indefinitely.
  • This strengthens the case for converting such roles into permanent posts.
• Transition to Formal Employment
  • With the Union Budget’s focus on skilling, there is an opportunity to review employment norms in the care sector.
  • The state can create transition frameworks to move workers from honorariums to fair wages and formal contracts.
• Skill Development for Existing Workers
  • The proposed NSQF-aligned training programmes should also be extended to ASHA and Anganwadi workers, who already perform complex and essential tasks in the welfare system.
• Recognising Workers’ Rights and Voice
  • Care workers have long demanded dignity and recognition.
  • The government should implement the ‘Reward’ and ‘Represent’ principles of the International Labour Organisation’s 5R Framework for Decent Care Work, ensuring fair pay and a voice in policy decisions.
• Toward a Fair Care Economy
  • Strengthening India’s care economy requires proper compensation, formal employment protections, and meaningful participation of care workers in decision-making.