Over-dependence and trusting domestic helps has often proved to be fatal. The unreliability of maids again came to the fore when a maid recently kidnapped a two-year-old biy, Ishaan, from a Maharani Bagh residence. The incident prompted the Delhi government to regulate the mushrooming business of placement agencies in the capital. They also plan to train house-keeping staffs under experts.
Delhiites think that such a move should have been taken long back. Gunjan Gupta, a media professional, says that if the government had taken such a step when similar cases had occurred previously, then the situation would have been much better now.
“Nowadays, it has become quite regular to hear about maids and servants stabbing, raping or stealing from the house they were employed in. Getting a house help from an agency also doesn’t help much,” says Gunjan, who has suffered herself because of a maid.
She shares, “I hired a maid two years ago from an agency running in my neighbourhood. She was working fine initially but soon I realised that some things from my kitchen began missing all of a sudden. I confronted her and she lied. The worst shock was when I called up the agency’s manager and his number wasn’t working. I called up on the alternate number and even that was not working. I asked the maid to leave but I had to bear the loss as I didn’t get back the security deposit and the advance that I had paid to the agency,” she says.
Corporate professional Pooja Sethi also had a similar experience. “We didn’t allow our maid to go out hoping she won’t be able to steal and hide things elsewhere. But within days of employing her I found that she was passing on clothes from my wardrobe to other maids in the colony through the balcony. It was a shock,” says Pooja, who has now got a maid from her hometown in Uttar Pradesh and says she is reliable.
And while most of them have had horrid experiences with maids, BPO professional Apeksha Sharma, shares a funny incident. “I hired a 21-year-old girl from an agency some months back to look after my two-year-old daughter and help me with household chores. While she was good with work and etiquette and didn’t give me much trouble, she simply loved talking over the phone all the time. I scolded her, but it was of no use. One morning when we didn’t find her we called up the employment agency and were told that she had eloped with a man,” laughs Apeksha, who is thankful that at least she didn’t steal from them or harm them. “But still, I know the plight that many have to suffer because of maids. I hope the government takes some quick measures to regulate the agencies,” she concludes.