Women In Charge

These security guards have duties all over the hospital – from the entrance to different wards inside. “I have not realised why people say it’s a man’s world,I would rather believe it’s a woman’s world,” says Deepa Sunil Kadam,security guard at Jehangir Hospital,Sassoon Road,as she checks a visitor’s bag and extracts two packets of cigarettes and a lighter from it,saying,“Sorry Ma’am,this is not allowed inside so you have to leave it here. You can collect it while leaving.”

Kadam has two basic duties on this shift – first of all,she needs to make sure that women do not carry coconuts,cigarettes,cameras and sharp objects inside the hospital premises. Secondly,she needs to control relatives of patients when they crowd a certain area or behave in a manner which is inappropriate or disturbing to other people in the hospital. “It is important to smile all the time,even though the tone of the smile varies from an encouraging one to the relative of a recovering patient,a warm smile to people who are coming in to be admitted,a condolence smile to relatives who have lost their loved ones and so on,” explains Kadam.

The idea behind introducing women to this profession is very logical. “Earlier when we had men as guards,controlling the crowd was a problem. Male relatives of patients would physically assault the guards in a heated argument,” says Bomi Bhote,chief executive officer,Ruby Hall Clinic,Sassoon Road. “But men will not bulldoze women. This led to the idea of appointing women guards. A woman does not really need to do anything much to control a crowd or maintain discipline; just her presence is enough,” he adds. With 20 permanent and 20 temporary women guards,the hospital ensures proper training and inspection of uniforms during the first 30 minutes of every shift.

“Without a college education what job could I get? I had the choice between housekeeping and security and I do not regret the choice I made,” says Chaya Sawade,30-year-old guard at Ruby Hall Clinic. “With my earnings,I have been successful in providing my son with a proper education,” she adds. Jayshree Suryawanshi,a security guard appointed by Pune Zilla Suraksha Rakshak Mandal at Ruby Hall Clinic for the last nine years,says,“We have good days when people listen to us and bad days when some mumble abuses at us. Whenever there is unrest,either at the entrance or ICU or other wards,we have to catch hold of the main person,take him aside and make him understand that he should not be disturbing other patients and should let the doctors do their work. If the situation goes beyond our control,we call our supervisor on the walkie-talkie. This is called the blue code signal,”explains Suryawanshi. “Relatives of patients are often tense and hyper,so we have to be patient and talk politely even if they are rude to us. We understand what they are going through,” she adds.