Many of us are familiar with the word ‘PG’ aka Paying Guest. It is a booming market now as many people flock to this Tech-city seeking better jobs, education or lifestyle. The struggle to find a suitable place with basic amenities at an affordable price is something that most people dread.
That is what lead two women -- Sujatha Ramani, from Tamil Nadu with a background in computer science and MBA along with her friend Jaya Nair a CA from Kerala -- to start off their own PG accommodations. “We faced problems when we looked for a PG in Bengaluru during our initial days,” recall the duo.
“My first experience with a PG was when I came here in the early ’90s and my uncle and I went looking for an accommodation. Those days you had to walk door-to-door in quest of accommodation. It was impossible to just sit at home and find a room. Years later when my relative came looking for a PG the process was the same except that I had a couple of contact numbers from the yellow pages. Yet, we still had to physically visit each place.,” adds Sujatha.
Jaya, on the other hand, says she had no personal experiences in this but felt the “pain” of many such friends and soon the duo decided “to do something to set this ordeal right.”
They decided to embark on a journey and create a process that would help people select a space to live in without leaving the comforts of their home. They soon launched their website HomelyPG in April, 2016 and beam that the response has been magnificent ever since the site went live.
Jaya observes, “Most PGs provide pictures that are far from reality and once you visit them, you are disappointed at the real condition of the rooms. Most often, these images may have been taken when the rooms were done up but later due to low maintenance, they start looking shabby. Hence, we make sure to send our photographer to take pictures which we then load on our site. We visit all the PGs to keep a track of how things are -- if hygiene and cleanliness in the kitchen and rooms are maintained as promised. We have even set up a certain standards for PGs when it comes to food quality, safety and other things. These norms have to be followed by all of them once we make a contract with them. We look into each complaint and ensure that the promised services are being provided.”
Besides these, they also add that safety is an important aspect of any PG, which “requires tremendous attention”. Sujatha agrees and states, “Installation of CCTV cameras in each PG is a basic criteria when it comes to safety. Parents often worry about the security and safety of their children, and we understand that. On the other hand a lot of students dislike PG which are too strict and have deadlines at night. We understand their problems too and try and strike a balance between these two aspects. Mostly, we attract first time IT professionals and students who are new to the city. They look for basic amenities and safety before they bond with colleagues and move into shared apartments.”
For details log on to HomelyPG.com
