Click to play videoMumbai: Shiv Bahadur was 14 years old when he left his town in Nepal to become a watchman. But he's had to find an alternative career after the society decided to opt for a security agency instead.
“The watchmen were taking advantage of going out and not being there. We thought if we go for a security agency, the guards would always be there,” said Fardoon Oonwalla of Gold Mist Housing Society.
The security industry is growing at a rapid pace, at 120-150 per cent this year and still growing. But not all security agencies are registered and not all of them follow industry standards.
Smaller unregistered agencies often remain profitable by cutting corners on the manpower. Poorly paid, overworked and undertrained, most guards with these agencies have no choice but to wait for a better job.
“I used to work for Bharath Security before and there, I had to work for 12 hours for Rs 1200,” said a security guard, Ananth Shinde.
While Maharashtra also has a bill in place specifying a minimum wage for these guards, it has never been implemented properly.
And that, perhaps, is why the Government of India has formulated the Private Security Agencies Central Model Rules 2006 which comes into effect by April.
“The smaller agencies were able to manage before but with the Central Government passing the Act, I can see this reducing by a large percentage,” said Globe Security Agency Managing Director, Rakesh Rai.
Agencies will then need a renewable license to operate and impart stricter training to their staff, increasing operational costs and safety and security might just come at a higher price.
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