Amid the crunch, the maid-in-India story

NEW DELHI: The salaries of domestic helps have perhaps never exercised the minds of people as in the weeks after the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes were banned. Since most maids and other helpers around the house prefer cash to inaccessible funds in bank accounts, their employers are either cutting down on their expenses to have enough to put aside for the salary payments or are making a beeline for banks and ATMs.
Gangadhar Mitra, a city-based journalist, said he began saving for his maids’ December pay soon after the demonetisation announcement, realising that the situation was going to be grim. “I was able to pay my maids in cash because I stood in long lines a few times to withdraw money and cut personal expenses to be able to save the cash,” he said.
Prerna Kaushik, a PR professional living in Lajpat Nagar, missed a few hours of work to try and get her hand on money in valid denominations. “I collected some cash over the weeks, and at least this month the cash will make it easier for my maid,” she said.
The few who proposed online transactions in order to avoid the cash queues had to give in to the demands of helps, who wished to be paid in the new currency notes. “I wanted to transfer money to my maid, but she didn’t have a bank account. I offered to send it to her husband’s or son’s account, but she asked me not to. So now I will have to queue up at an ATM to get the cash,” said Ruchika Thakur, a media professional.
There were many went to work late or took an elongated break to make it to the ATM machines and get th money needed for such an outlay.
Tushar Chowdhry, an employee at a brewery in west Delhi, was one of them. He availed of a mid-day break and found a working ATM near his workplace. “It affects my work but there is no other option,” he said.
But not everybody was as lucky. Dipesh Singh, an employee in a private company in Ghaziabad, told his manager that he needed to hunt for cash and would be late for work on Thursday. He reached the Bank of Baroda branch in Pandav Nagar at 8am, but the bank ran out of cash at 11am. “I can pay my children’s school fees through cheques, but I need cash for the maid’s salary and to pay rent. I will have to come tomorrow again,” he said dejectedly.