Domestic servants get attractive package in Bangalore's suburbs

Domestic servants get attractive package in Bangalore's suburbs

The Hindu

City's upper middle classes heavily dependent on them

# Good workers are paid Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500
# They are allowed to watch television, have food
# New clothes, bonuses for festivals and holidays
# Chauffeurs command a salary of Rs. 4,000

BANGALORE: Each day, tens of thousands travel from the outer suburbs around Marathahalli, the Outer Ring Road and Bannerghatta Road and beyond to the city to work.

Shortly before or after these office goers clog the roads, another smaller group of commuters are coming into the outer suburbs.

They are domestic workers, "ayahs" for children, cooks and gardeners.

Those in the apartment complexes, villas and row-house colonies need people to clean their houses, do their laundry and mind their small children. And cook for them.

Reliable workers

While getting reliable domestic help in the city has become difficult, there is no such problem for those living well outside the city. They are prepared to pay much higher, provide food, allow the household help watch television and most of all, leave them for hours together without supervision.

The going rate for maids in some of these residential complexes is Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500 a month with breakfast and lunch thrown in.

There are bonuses for festivals and new clothes and of course, all the used clothing the women of the household no longer find fashionable. The women engaged to mind children are provided a room to stay during weekdays, the weekends off and all the food they can eat. Good cooks, who may double up as "ayahs" can expect to be paid up to Rs 2,000 a month and at least two paid holidays during festivals.

Bus passes

Many of the domestic help commuter from the cantonment areas or around Ulsoor and the slums off Old Madras Road. They are provided bus passes or a flat amount each day for their transportation.

Live-in servants

The live-in servants are given rail tickets to travel to their villages during their festival holidays. Those employed as drivers get free uniforms, a lunch and tea "bata" and often loans to buy two wheelers so that they report for duty on time.

The going rate for personal chauffeurs is Rs. 4,000 plus allowances.

Holidays

Many families living in the outer suburbs say they are happy to give holidays to their domestic help during festivals since they themselves may be travelling to their hometowns or elsewhere when the schools are closed.