NEW DELHI:Indian diplomats abroad do not have domestic assistants anymore. In a clever change in nomenclature, they now have “service staff” as part of a new policy implemented in the wake of high-profile cases involving Indian diplomats and their domestic helps.
The term “service staff” also loses the faint feudal tones that dogged the previous version. That’s why in a recent parliamentary question about “welfare of IBDAs” (India-based Domestic Assistants), the answer furnished by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) did not mention the phrase once.
“Service staff are engaged to assist our diplomats in fulfilling their diplomatic responsibilities as India’s representatives abroad on mutually agreed terms of engagement in accordance with the rules framed by the government from time to time,” Minister of State for External Affairs General V K Singh told the Lok Sabha on August 12.
He revealed that the ministry “has recently revised its policy on deployment of service staff for its diplomats, which addresses the rights and responsibilities of both the service staff and the diplomats”.
This is not the first change in nomenclature for domestic helps in the MEA policy. Earlier, they were known as “domestic servants”, which morphed into IBDA and now into “service staff”.
The spotlight on the arrangements for domestic helps for Indian diplomats abroad is a fallout of the arrest of then Indian consul-general Devyani Khobragade in New York in 2013.
The latest case of the Indian ambassador to New Zealand, Ravi Thapar, who came back prematurely from his post after allegations by his cook against his wife became public.
A senior Indian diplomat said the phrase “service staff” had already been in use on an informal basis in some European countries, but it was not reflected in the administrative basis. “IBDA are as good as service staff, so it is better to call them that,” he said.
Indian diplomats point out that hospitality is an integral part of diplomacy abroad, which requires a lot of work, especially with spouses also holding a job. As other officials indicated, the reason for bringing in the term “service staff” was also in line with global norms, with most developed countries not having an employment rule related to domestic helps or assistants.
“The circular was mainly a reiteration and consolidation of existing policies, which had not been implemented strictly so far,” said an official.
There were a number of rules in the circular, including meetings of the head of chancery with the service staff on a regular basis. The head of chancery will also have the job of inspecting the salary certificate given to service staff. In return, the service staff will have to give an undertaking that they will return to India at the end of their contract.
While in diplomatic missions of other countries, service staff are often full-time government employees, it will continue to be a private arrangement between the employer and the employee in the Indian context. “Only their passport, tickets and medical insurance are given by the government,” said an official.
A proposal from the MEA to make domestic helps government employees was shot down by the Ministry of Finance, which was worried about the financial burden on the exchequer.