The state government has decided to take stern action against private security guard agencies found employing unskilled guards and paying them low wages. It has decided to cancel the exemption given to such agencies if they are found violating provisions of the Security Guards Act, 1981. Such agencies collectively employ five lakh guards across the state. The violation was noticed at an inspection in which the guards who found to be ill-trained, overworked and underpaid.
Kavita Gupta, principal secretary (labour), said, “The exemption is necessary under the Act for engaging individual guards in premises, not only to ensure that they receive basic minimum wages, but also to ensure the security of premises. Police verification is carried out for each guard before granting him an exemption.”
After the Pune blast, the government has decided to streamline the security apparatus, including the functioning of private agencies.
According to Gupta, “A spot inspection pointed to how a private agency, instead of recruiting 97 guards, was found to have deployed 400 guards. Their recruitment process does ascertain whether a criminal or individual linked to terrorist outfits is being hired. This, when the guards are often deployed at the sensitive areas of private institutions.”
Source: http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_govt-pulls-up-private-security-agencies_1350959
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