Security Check-in

At least on paper.

8216;8216;Since liberalisation, the private sector has boomed and a legislation was desperately needed to regulate them,8217;8217; says former director-general of the Central Industrial Security Force CISF K M Singh. 8216;8216;But everything will depend on how it is implemented.8217;8217;

Most players, however, are pleased that the legislation8212;first discussed at a police science congress in 19748212;has been passed, after being rejected twice.

8216;8216;Despite several flaws, the Bill will benefit the user, as it aims to standardise services and protect the employee by ensuring better working conditions and minimum wages,8217;8217; says R K Sinha of SIS, one of the largest security agencies in the country.

Adds Rahul Nanda, CMD of TopsGroup, whose security arm employs 30,000 people, 8216;8216;The Bill was overdue. The industry needs regulation, since security is first about saving lives and then about making money.8217;8217;

Try selling that line in Ahmedabad. The city has more than 250 private security agencies; the statewide figure is close to 350. Only 25 of them are registered with the Association of Gujarat Security Agencies.

8216;8216;It8217;s easier than opening a shop,8217;8217; says J J Doctor of Docsuns Security, a 15-year-old agency in Ahmedabad. From retired home guards to MLAs, anyone can register a security agency under the local municipal body8217;s Shops and Establishments Act with two passport-size photographs, a letterhead or visiting card of the office address mentioned in the application form, and Rs 60.

Despite the ease of the process, only 30 per cent of the agencies in Ahmedabad are listed with the civic body. 8216;8216;Thousands of agencies operate without licences,8217;8217; alleges Nanda.

8216;8216;More than 80,000 guards are illegally employed and exploited by these agencies,8217;8217; adds G S Chauhan, chief of the Security Assciation of Maharashtra. His figures are for that state alone.

While the good intentions of the Bill cannot be doubted, the passage of the private security sector8212;growing at about 20 per cent annually, and employing 50 lakh people8212;from the unorganised to the regulated, and hence accountable, is unlikely to be event-free. Because it also includes people like Satinder Singh name changed on request, who would rather work for almost half his contracted salary than risk unemployment.

8216;8216;I got a job as a security guard through a cousin after coming to Delhi from my village in Uttar Pradeh six years ago,8217;8217; says Singh. 8216;8216;On paper, I get Rs 4,500 per month, but actually I receive just Rs 2,500. I don8217;t think the Act will make any difference to me8212;basic regulations were supposed to be applicable all along.8217;8217;

Double standards
BESIDES the burgeoning private sector, private security agencies guard vital government institutions like IITs, DRDO laboratories, satellite test ranges, archeological monuments, ordnance factories and is, in fact, in direct competition with the CISF.

But, rather than a national standard for licensing, the new Bill requires them to be licensed at the district and state levels.

Another loophole centres around the training to be imparted to the security personnel according to state government guidelines. 8216;8216;This will lead to multiple authorities and standards and is likely to increase overheads,8217;8217; says G B Singh, president of the Association of Private Security Agencies India.

The Centre defends itself by pointing out tha law and order is a state subject. 8216;8216;Also, most states wanted to be able to set their own standards,8221; says a senior Home Ministry official.

Smaller units are likely to be the hardest hit8212;leading either to shutdowns or mergers8212;by the multiplicity of authority, agree the big players. But the rise in overhead costs and costs-per-guard will eat into the profit margin of even the established agencies.

Considering that MNCs and big corporates, which can absorb the rise in costs, account for just 50 per cent of the private security agency8217;s business, the fallout is not difficult to see. 8216;8216;Though the demand for private security is rising, higher costs will lead to automation,8217;8217; says Kumar Vikram Singh of the Lancer Network.

The option, for agencies, is to spend a fat sum on training. At the moment, says Pranab Kumar, a security guard in Mumbai, all that is required for employment is the ability to do a couple of brisk rounds of a nearby park.

Self service
S OME industry-watchers believe that instead of imposing working conditions and training, the state could have allowed the market to regulate terms. Thus, if a client required sharp-shooters, the agency could be compelled to provide trained personnel; if he merely sought a man in uniform, the agency could provide him as well.

Similarly, if there is a huge labour force willing to work for less-than-fair terms, increasing overheads is hardly desirable.

There8217;s also the corruption factor. Under the Bill, an officer not below the rank of joint secretary in the state will be the 8216;8216;controlling authority8217;8217;, responsible for enforcing the Bill and issuing and cancelling licences.

The Bill provides 8216;8216;indemnity8217;8217; to the controlling authority against prosecution and legal suits, provided they acted in 8216;8216;good faith8217;8217;. The last, of course, is a grey area.

A multi-member regulating body with equal representation from the government, industry, consumers and employees may have been a more feasible option. Already, associations like the Joint Action Committee of Security Industry and other bodies have all recommended a rethink on the Bill.

And as for the security threat guards themselves pose, Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy assures you the incidence of such crime is nothing to worry about.

with Tejas Mehta in Mumbai and Kamran Sulaimani in Ahmedabad