NEW DELHI: The southwest district administration on Tuesday withdrew its day-old order not allowing entry of domestic helps and car cleaners in residential areas.
The reason behind the withdrawal of the order, which was effective immediately, was not stated.
The previous order issued here stated that maids/house-helps/car washing employees were not considered as essential workers and were therefore not allowed within residential areas, even as the Delhi government partially lifted the lockdown from Monday with the reopening of factories and construction activities.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had last week said the process of lifting the lockdown would happen in phases.
Delhi on Tuesday reported 623 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in two and a half months, and 62 more deaths, while the positivity rate fell below one percent for the second consecutive day.
When asked if they received any such orders regarding restrictions on domestic helps returning to work, B S Vohra, the president of RWA Federation of East Delhi, said the decision to call the house-helps was left to the residents since the beginning of the lockdown.
"We have not forced any decision on anyone. We have been constantly requesting our residents to follow all government orders, and since we do not have any official notice regarding domestic helps, we have left the decision to the residents.
If they are comfortable, they can call their maids," he said.
"While most of May, we hardly saw any house-helps coming in, the numbers have increased with a decline in the number of cases," Vohra said.
Anju Das, who works as a domestic help in south east Delhi's C R Park, said she had been going to work throughout the lockdown.
"I was stopped twice by the police at the beginning of the lockdown, but after a few days there wasn't any issue. I have been going to work throughout the curfew. I think what worked for me is that my employer lives within walking distance of my home," she said.