Hiring a help may get tougher, Jharkhand govt cracks whip on traffickers

The next time you hire a domestic help from a placement agency in Delhi, ensure that the girl/boy has his parents’ consent and is above 18 years of age. The Jharkhand government has cleared the placement agency bill, which makes it mandatory for placement agencies to maintain a record of employers and employees.

The bill, aimed at curbing trafficking of minors from the impoverished areas and protecting the rights of those working in Delhi and other cities,makes violators liable to fines ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh.

About 33,000 minor girls and boys are trafficked out of Jharkhand every year. Most of them are placed as domestic helps through unscrupulous placement agencies. Others are sold as slaves or pushed into flesh trade. Jharkhand chief minister Raghubar Das had recently said that over 50,000 girls from Jharkhand are in metro cities, of which 50% of are in Delhi alone.

Read more: 15-year-old girl sold twice in two months, rescued in Delhi

Placing a minor as a domestic help is a much more profitable proposition for the traffickers than selling them to brothels. An agent earns between Rs 5,000- Rs10,000 for selling a girl to a brothel, while he can get a commission of at least Rs 20,000 if he sells her to a household.

“Though the bill has been cleared by the Jharkhand assembly, it will have a huge impact in Delhi,” said Rishi Kant, activist with Shakti Vahini NGO, which has rescued many minors working in inhuman condition in Delhi.

“It will be the duty of placement agencies to ensure that domestic helps do not work over eight hours and if they do, the wages should be double than the normal. The employer has to provide a good environment to the help. And the placement agency have to provide a passbook to with details of the employer and agency mentioned in it,” Kant said.

A survey by NGOs working against human trafficking showed that there are over 2300-odd placement agencies in Delhi of which only 364 were registered under the Commercial Establishment Act.

The bill also mandates that the people employed as helps must get salary on time and ensures the payment is made directly from the employer’s account. It has also tightened the noose around agents who sell minors in Delhi.

“If someone is placing a minor in Delhi, he/she will be punished as per the new law. The employers need to be extra careful and only seek helps from registered placement agencies,” Kant said.

“The employer will also face action if a minor is rescued from the house and he/she is not kept in good living conditions. The current trend of hiring through placement agencies without any verification will end and the employee will get the due respect and money for the work,” he said.