Govt readies Bill to rein in domestic help placement agencies

Acting on complaints of cheating against placement agencies which provide domestic helps, Delhi government is finalising a draft Bill to tame them.

The proposed legislation is aimed at stopping the agencies from exploiting domestic help as well as people who employ them as housemaids.

Delhi labour and industries minister Ramakant Goswami said his department has been receiving large number of complaints against such agencies whose modus operandi was found to be against established business ethics.

“The present legislation is not sufficient to curb fraudulent practices by such agencies which are causing harassment and loss of money to those who use them,'' he said at a conference of labour ministers from the states here on Tuesday.

Goswami said the problems was becoming graver in the national capital as lakhs of families contact placement agencies to hire domestic help.

“A draft Bill will soon be placed before the cabinet for its consideration and once cleared by it, it will be introduced in the Legislative Assembly,” he said.

The minister added that although his department was working overtime to redress complaints about placement agencies, it was becoming difficult to act against them due to loopholes in existing labour laws.

Goswami suggested that there was a need to change existing labour laws.

“It is time to revisit existing labour laws. Certain laws were enacted many decades ago and needs to be updated. Besides, they need to be simplified so that a worker can understand them and avoid his exploitation.”

Later speaking to Deccan Herald, Goswami accepted that in the present scenario the industrialsts were making profits while the workers' conditions remained the same.

“Presently, only industrialists are reaping benefits of economic development. Workers do not understand the ways and means available in case of flouting of any provisions by employers. It is time that we pay heed to the condition of the workers,” said Goswami.