Noida: To allow domestic staff or not? RWAs start online vote

NOIDA: To resolve the deadlock over whether societies will allow domestic staff to start coming in, RWAs have taken the process online.
After the district administration allowed the entry of domestic staff but left the final call to RWAs, societies had not been able to arrive at a consensus. Meetings were not an option and giving every resident the chance to weigh in was difficult. So smaller societies got the votes on WhatsApp groups — like Shubhkamna Apartment in Sector 50 — and the bigger ones conducted online polls on society management apps.
Apps like Mygate and Society Connect were any way being used to share safety guidelines with residents. “Now, we are also using them to conduct polls. Not just on the entry of domestic staff. For instance, which days we should fix for calling electric repair personnel,” said Amit Gupta, president of Prateek Wisteria AOA in Sector 77. “There is an increased demand for pest control services but we have not allowed that yet because there are no clear guidelines.”
“It was a democratic way to go about it,” said Abhay Pandey, a resident of Homes 121 in Sector 121. The society already had an app that they used to coordinate other services in the society. Most in the society voted against asking domestic staff to come in.
Most AOAs and RWAs have, in fact, deciding to not allow domestic staff till May 17. “After that, we will wait for fresh guidelines,” said Rajesh Sahay, secretary general, NOFAA. He added that in individual cases — a senior citizen staying alone, for instance — domestic staff have been allowed.
Builder-managed societies in some areas, however, still seem to be forming arbitrary rules without consulting residents. At Logix Blossom County in Sector 137, that had been a hotspot for several days, residents said only a handful were asked what they wanted. The facility manager, Pradeep Singh, however, said all tower representatives had been consulted. “We asked tower representatives from the 10 towers that are occupied and also consulted other apartments in the sector,” said Singh.
The district magistrate said that they will look into this. “I will discuss the matter with officials and issue guidelines for uniformity of builder-managed societies. Meanwhile, if there are specific complaints from any society, they can call the integrated helpline and it will be resolved,” said district magistrate Suhas LY.