For domestic workers, working for a single household is not an option

For hundreds of domestic workers in the district, implementation of a new set of guidelines issued by the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration regarding the resumption

For hundreds of domestic workers in the district, implementation of a new set of guidelines issued by the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration regarding the resumption of work would mean a major loss of income. The district administration, on May 6, issued new guidelines, asking the residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) and local residents’ bodies of the district to come up with strategies to ensure that only one domestic help works for one household and that they only come from a non-containment zone.

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While many domestic workers were unaware of the new guidelines, those who were expressed their dilemma. “One of my employers told me that although I can resume work, I can only work for one household. I work in five places and get similar money from all of them. How can I choose only a single household? I got payments from all families for the month of April but that is not the case this month. Only one of them has paid me completely. Two have given me half my pay, but have promised to help me out with ration if the need arises. Two of the rest haven’t paid anything. Although we can start work now, we are yet to gain access into the society. This way, we are neither getting any money nor work. How long can we go on like this,” said Azeema, a domestic help, who works for two societies in Sector 76.

Domestic helps are also not comfortable with working only for one household because they feel that in this way they will lose on other sources of income.

“Why will one family pay me as much as rest of the households combined? Even if I do more work for a family, they will not pay me as much as working for three or four families. Why will others continue to pay me if I work only in one house? Further, our landlord is not letting us go to work. He says it’s too risky and that no one is going out. I have not been able to go to collect my salary. He said when everything opens then we can go but, in the meantime, he has refused to help us in any way,” said Rekha, who lives in Harijan Colony and works as a domestic help in Arun Vihar.

Most residential bodies in the district have refused the entry of the domestic help due to the non-feasibility of the one-household rule.

“For high-rises, with several hundred flats, it is impossible to have only one domestic help per house. So we are currently discouraging the entry of maids and have requested the families that if they really need help, the maids should stay with them on a 24-hour basis and that the families should get them tested,” said Rajiva Singh, president, Noida Federation of Apartment Owners Associations(NOFAA).

However, for domestic workers, who work for only a few hours on a daily basis, living with one family for the whole day is also impossible. “I didn’t know that we are only allowed to work for one family. I cannot choose which family to work for. One of my employers is an elderly couple, another family has two toddlers. Even if I could choose one, staying with them for the whole day or even from 7am-7pm is not possible. I have four kids and I cannot leave them unattended for the whole day,” said Sarita, who works as a cook.

Despite repeated attempts, the district magistrate could not be reached for comment.