Modern lifestyle, be that of Seniors living alone, Young Couples or those living in Joint Families, one thing common is the dependence on House Helps. Be that for Cooking, Cleaning, Washing Clothes, Driver, Nanny etc, despite a plethora of Kitchen & Household Appliances, need for house help has increased manifold. Part Time is Pass, now full-time help is the preferred choice, leading to mushrooming of fly-by-night Placement Agencies.
There is a huge imbalance in Supply & Demand of personnel and there is no Formal Verification Process. In desperation people hire Helps, both Male and Female on recommendation of other House Helps or Agencies recommendation. A few months back an armed Burglary was reported in C-Block, which turned out to be an insider’s job by a Help hired a few days ago. News reports abound about many such incidents.
Last week in a Tragic incident a 17-year-old House Help committed Suicide in her rooftop room in E-Block. The details of the incident are not available and it is prudent not to reveal details of a matter under police investigation. The purpose of writing this article is to caution residents to be careful while hiring as, God-forbid something was to happen the price one pays for Mental Trauma can be huge.
It is easier said than done but, caution and keenly observing House Helps behaviour and movement is missing in most cases. A walk in any Colony Park would reveal what House-Helps indulge in their free time. They are either on phone or meet up and as is natural, a friendship or romance or common intent to make a quick buck, information sharing is the normal outcome. Samvada had reported some years back how Helps clandestinely meet late night in Parks or jump rooftops from their escapades.
Not double guessing this incident, in earlier reported cases of minor helps committing suicide, romance gone wrong, pregnancy, loneliness are the prime reasons for such extreme steps. High Time Government frames Rules & Guidelines for this highly unregulated Job Market. Like in Corporate work place, free time during working hours does not mean indulge in Mobile Conversation or run across to the market on some pretext or other. Verification & Registration should be mandatory and some Compulsory Training & Certification for core competence ie. Cook, Nanny, Driver, House Cleaning etc must be introduced, so that both the Employer & the Employee know their responsibility.
by Rajiv Kakria (9810275168)
