DCW writes to Labour Dept to better regulate placement agencies

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Thursday sent a notice to Labour Department of the Delhi government seeking details over the total number and names of licensed placement agencies functioning in Delhi.

The notice by the DCW to the Labour Department comes after a 24-year-old domestic worker who was trafficked from Bengal by a placement agency was brutally beaten up with iron rods by the owner where she was placed by the agency.

The domestic worker has still not recovered and is reportedly believed to be still in a critical state. The DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal stated in the notice that on earlier information provided by the Labour Department to the Commission, from a total of 1,400 placement agencies in Delhi there was only placement agency which had the license.

The Labour Department had then provided assurance to the DCW that all the placement agencies would be registered. Recently, DCW chief sought information on the placement agencies that were registered with the Delhi government as on December 1.

Maliwal also asked from the Labour Department the status of drafting of Bills for regulating of placement agencies in the Capital. The DCW has also sought a reply to the notice by January 7. “The regulation of the placement agencies is extremely crucial as many cases are coming to light wherein it is found that many placement agencies are running trafficking nexus in the Capital,” said DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal highlighting the sensitivity of the issue.