Gurgaon maids get marching orders,courtesy Games

Jonah Chakroborty,a resident of Uniworld Towers in Sector 47,Sohna Road,said: “I had hired my maid barely two months ago. Hailing from West Bengal,she used to serve at four other flats in our society. Though they had all the relevant ID documents,including RWA-issued ID cards,the police kicked out the male members of their family — asking them to return only after the Games is over. As a result,we had to hire a new maid at a higher wage.”

However,no police verification was done for the maid because she was “hired only recently”,Chakroborty admitted. However,the resident welfare associations (RWAs) seemed to be singing a much lighter tune than the housewives. Many RWA heads said that they were not against such measures,but added that the issue should have been addressed in a better fashion.

“In a way,it is good that the police are doing this. We had been insisting that residents get this formality done for their own safety and security. We had also held a camp to educate our residents and provide them with the relevant forms,but none of them took the pains to come forward and attend it,” said Colonel Mann Singh (retd),RWA president,Sector 31. Also affected are placement agencies,which lost workers due to the process.

“Most of the maids belong either to Jharkhand,Darjeeling,Orissa or Nepal and do not even have a valid identity proof,considering their rural backgrounds. They come here to earn a living and never bother about such things. It is the prerogative of the employees to get their maids verified,” asserted Krishna of Savita Service Centre in DLF Phase III. When asked what the placement agencies were charging their commission for,pat came the reply: “For prompt services!”

Meanwhile,senior police officials clarified that the policemen deputed for the verification drive are not allowed to use coercive methods even if somebody failed to produce a valid identity proof.