NEWS: Supreme Court recognised homemakers as “nation builders“à a domestic care value for calculating motor-accident compensation.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Created "Loss of Domestic Care" as a separate compensation head under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
- Compensation for deceased homemakers:
- ₹30,000/month as domestic-care value.
- Increase by 10% every 3 years.
- Employed homemakers:
- Eligible for domestic-care compensation in addition to salary-based compensation.
- High Courts directed to prioritize motor accident cases pending for over 4 years.
SIGNIFICANCE
- Recognizes unpaid household work as an economic contribution.
- Corrects historical gender-based undervaluation of domestic labour.
Strengthens:
- Article 14 → Right to Equality
- Article 21 → Right to Life with Dignity
- Supports SDG-5 (Gender Equality).
WHY ECONOMIC VALUATION IS NEEDED?
- Unpaid caregiving contributes 15–17% of GDP equivalent, but remains outside national accounting.
- Women perform 2.6 times more unpaid work than men.
- Spend 7+ hours daily on domestic activities.
- Domestic responsibilities contribute to low Female Labour Force Participation Rate (31.7%).
- Homemakers create human capital by supporting education, health and family welfare.
JUDICIAL PRECEDENTS
- Lata Wadhwa v. State of Bihar (2001) → First recognition of economic value of homemakers' work.
- Arun Kumar Agrawal v. National Insurance Co. (2010) → Homemakers' services have substantial financial value.
- Kirti v. Oriental Insurance Co. (2021) → Courts must assign notional income to homemakers for compensation.