This Woman’s Day, Sonal Sawansukha, creator of the eccentric jewellery brand Jewel Saga, talks and makes all the way to women empowerment. We present one, dear-to-the-heart campaign #AidToMaid.

Sonal Sawansukha

It is about women who want to reach out to other women in need of help, and shape their journeys. And those other women are your maids. It is about volunteering an hour, a rupee or a heart to help your maid open a banking account, to explain how to manage savings and retirement plan, to help her choose the right loan, to maintain household budget better, to talk about importance of education, to accompany her to hospital for health checkups – you may continue this list.

A Beautiful creation by Sonal, Brand Jewel Saga

And before we introduce you with our empowering campaign, Sonal – who is an inspiring woman herself, honored by many jewellery design awards, known for academic excellence as a design faculty and praised for entrepreneurial spirit – will share tips how to empower your maid financially:

1. Pension for old age

Get your maid to contribute as low as Rs.100 a month towards pension and Rs.135-350 annually for a five year insurance cover. Giftapension.com is an online platform from India Micro Pension Services Pvt Ltd. The contributions made through this website are directed towards government’s national pension scheme (NPS). The contributors also get life insurance cover through SBI Life Insurance.

When your maid turns 60, her accumulated savings during these years is returned to her as a monthly pension.

How to enroll: The toughest part is to convince them to contribute into the scheme, the benefits of which they will see when they get old. Once that’s done, you can register your maid’s personal details on giftapension.com. The company picks up essential documents of your maid (Aadhar card, Pan card, voter ID and a passport size photo) from your doorstep and you bear onetime expense of Rs 300 for enrollment.

Through a prepaid micro pension card, they can load cash and transfer money into their pension account via designated centers. At the time of enrollment, they can choose the amount and the intervals at which they will make the contribution.

2. Bank Account for life’s savings

Yes, the much publicized Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) Savings Account can help your maid have a bank account too. It’s a zero balance savings account that comes with an ATM card and an overdraft facility after 6 months. There is very less documentation needed to open this account vis-à-vis any other bank account.

Remember the account is a very basic one as it allows just plain banking service and there is no option to open a recurring deposit or a public provident fund.

How to enroll: Your domestic help needs to have basic documents like Aadhar card and a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card and passport size photograph. Ensure that she doesn’t have any bank account in her name elsewhere. You will have to educate her about using the debit card and using the account frequently to deposit or withdraw money.

3. Insurance that’s affordable

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojna (RSBY) is the government’s cashless insurance scheme that provides health insurance upto Rs. 30,000 in empanelled hospitals. The insurance premium is funded by state and central governments. Each family has to pay Rs 30 at the time of enrollment and they get a smart card for availing cashless facility. However this scheme is likely to undergo a revamp now as the new government plans to bring it under a full-fledged National Health Assurance Mission (NHAM).

How to enroll: Your domestic help will need to visit the offices as mentioned on scheme’s official website for enrollment purpose. Since the scheme may be revamped, it might just make sense to wait for few months before you enroll your domestic help.