Stop looking over your shoulder

Sonal Desai

MUMBAI, INDIA: A 24x7 access to the Internet followed by news channels and the fine print has exposed us to a new gore reality!!

Not only are we exposed to heinous crimes against women and children, but the horrific crimes against senior citizens followed-up with gory details can chill one to the bone. Also with the new trend of DINK (double income no kids) or DIOK (double income one kid) on the rise, we leave behind vulnerable parents and children at the mercy of either security guards or video and door phones.

According to statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau, India registered more than 4 crore complaints with the police and judiciary in 2014. While one can appreciate the fact that more and more people are coming out in the open and registering complaints, what is even more heartening is the tools being used by the investigating agencies and the community alike to stay safe.

“It is all about following a process. Everybody has information. Housing societies and corporates now follow the disciple to collect photographs and phone numbers of the in-house staff. What they however, do not do is cross check the information with a previous employer or the local police station. A simple thing such as background checks can prevent as many as 50-60 percent of crimes against senior citizens, women and children,” avers Pravin Agarwala, Co-founder & CEO, BetterPlace.

Agarwala, who decided to take the first step, started BetterPlace in Bengaluru. Hobnobbing with the housing societies and the police, he has set up a database (which is hosted on a public cloud) of more than 30,000 people in the country. AS a part of the service, which is initially offered for free, BetterPlace offers CEOs or secretaries from housing societies (even individual residents) access to the database. All the resident has to do is key-in the phone number or the Aadhaar card number of the person, and the results are provided either instantaneously or within two to three working days.

While Agarwala asserts that his social enterprise does not have access to confidential information stored in UIDAI, most of the information is sourced from the local police station. “It is mutual exchange of information. While it is difficult to provide the exact number of cases we have been able to prevent, what is more important that the employees now realize that the investigators can track them down right to their native place and beyond because of the Aadhaar card linked information.”

The initiative has found many takers in India. Now his endeavour is expand the database more than 4 times its existing capacity in the next two days.

So the next time you plan to employee a domestic help, all you need to do is investigate him or her first. Atleast, you will stop looking over your shoulder!!!