The Supreme Court on Thursday held that the loss due to death of a homemaker's domestic care should be monetised at a minimum of ₹30,000 per month, adding that they should be recognised as "nation-builders".

A bench of Justices Sanjoy Karol and N.K. Singh passed the order while giving additional compensation to an appellant for the death of his wife in a road accident.

The court passed the judgment while enhancing the total compensation awarded to the family of a homemaker who died in a road accident in 2001 to ₹62,77,900 from ₹8,43,400, along with 7.5 per cent interest from the date of filing of the claim petition in Punjab and Haryana High Court. The high court had enhanced the amount to ₹8,43,000 from the ₹2,42,000 awarded by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT), Sirsa, Haryana.

The high court and the MACT had both calculated the notional income of a homemaker as ₹3,000 per month, which the apex court said was grossly unjustified given the multifarious physical, mental and emotional workload shouldered by them.

“In our view, it is ironic to describe a homemaker as dependent on earning members, when, in reality, the household’s functioning depends substantially on the homemaker. The earning members are in fact solely dependent on the homemaker but alas, this reality does not receive the acknowledgment it deserves," the Supreme Court said.