Majority of Gurugram landlords refuse to take in single working women
Gurugram: The recent direction issued by the Gurugram police to restrict the entry of women in pubs and bars may have resulted in raising many eyebrows on the issue of independence of women. The incident, however, has again reflected over a range of difficulties faced by single women in the Gurugram. One of the major challenges, which many single working continue to grapple with, is getting a rented accommodation in posh condominiums and residential societies.
Odd working hours and suspicion over the character of the women have often prevented many landowners avoiding their properties to be leased to the working women. Ironically, a large number of residential societies and colonies situated along the MG road lead the way in not giving their properties on rent to bachelorettes as well as bachelors.
The escalation of this problem was witnessed in 2017 when a posh residential society issued an official directive in which it was stated that no properties will be leased to single tenants. There were allegations that were leveled that most of the tenants were encouraging prostitution that was spoiling the atmosphere of the society. Widescale media coverage subsequently leading to intervention by public authorities resulted in the matter getting resolved. Most of the residential societies are now issuing identity cards (IDs) to the single tenants. Most of the young tenants working in the multinational companies opt for the condominium society because of its central location and its proximity to commercial areas of the city.
The reluctance of residential societies and condominiums to provide rent has led to the growth in the business of PGs that continue to do brisk business despite its limitations. The safety of the women residing in these PGs can be gauged from the fact that most of the PGs on the pretext of being illegally constructed do not register themselves. "There is no denying the fact that the level of trust among the landowners for single tenants is quite low. The same challenge is faced by men but in the case of women, it is even more. Even though you are working in a good company and are willing to give them good rent they still do not want to lease the apartment. Owing to its ambiance and security getting a rent in residential colonies and condominiums is often the first choice. As our companies cannot accommodate each time in compulsion most of my colleagues choose PGs," said Rashmi Malhotra, a senior executive in an MNC.
