Ignoring laws regarding security pose risks
Siddharth Thakur | Pune
• On Jan 9th 2009, a security guard robbed film producer Sajid Nadiadwala and his wife Wardha at gunpoint of Rs.10 lakh in cash and Rs.40 lakh jewellery. Three days later, the culprit along with two other accomplices was nabbed. The police recovered Rs 7.1 lakh in cash and the full Rs 40 lakh worth jewellery and the state initiated action against Tiger Security which had deployed the guard.
• In February 2011, the Vakola police arrested a school security guard on charges of raping a three-year-old student. The child was a junior KG student of Kalina Education Society School’s English medium section. The security guard, Telam Singh, who has worked at the school for three decades, reportedly committed the crime in a toilet in the school.
• In 2011, the Pune crime branch (rural) claimed to have solved the rape of 29-year-old employee of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Police arrested a 22-year-old security guard who was posted in the private valley owned by the Sahara Group. The accused, identified as Dharmendrakumar Rambhau Chaudhari was an employee of Front Line Security Guard Company and was currently residing at the Valley but is a native of Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. He had been working at Amby Valley for the last two years.
• Security guard, Ashok Bapurao Khunte of Pandavnagar, at the Mahila Sewa Mandal Ashram was arrested by the police for repeatedly raping a 27-year-old inmate.
What was more shocking than senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey being shot in broad daylight on a bustling Powai road was the fact that despite scores of witnesses not a single person come forward to testify against the assailants. There were security personnel in and around the area…guards and watchmen outside ATMs even food courts but all maintained a stoic silence.
Footage from several CCTV cameras in the area, particularly a clip of four minutes from a camera installed near HSBC Bank reveal the assailants had parked their bike and were waiting outside a pizza joint for three and a half minutes before seeing Dey arrive when they left.
Whether the assailants belonged to an underworld gang or was a hired local killer; or the act triggered by personal enmity or work-related rivalry notwithstanding, fact remains that the prospects of a common man’s security in the city are highly suspect.
Mumbai’s police are usually very swift to insist “you” provide details of your domestic help that include a photograph and proof of residence and identity to the nearest police station “to insure yourself against crime.” Conveniently disregarding the string of incidents that point towards the soaring rate of crime, the city police continue to turn a blind eye to the verification and authentication processes that ought to precede the appointment of ‘security guards and watchmen in residential and commercial premises throughout the metropolis.’
Despite a surge in the number security guards in just about every housing colony and society in the city, the incidence of crime soar unabated holding the city’s peace at ransom.
Under the Private Securities Agencies Registration Act (2005), security agencies are mandatorily expected to be registered with the state Home Department and need to provide basic training to their employees in safety measures, crowd control and fire-fighting during emergencies. Just a fraction of the swarm of security services employed are registered with the state Home Department with most of them carrying on their ‘business’ at sweet will.
Employing security personnel is no insurance against theft or crime as the number of pretexts they have in their kitty far outnumber any allegations of non-performance. The Home Ministry just has to issue orders to the Mumbai Police Commissioner who may act suo moto making it mandatory for the city’s cooperative housing societies to ensure the registration of their security services and guards with the local police station.
Unless you are certain about your watchman’s credentials, having him keep a watch on your family’s movements is asking for trouble. After all, he knows just when your elderly parent, daughter or child is alone and vulnerable and it’s easy to attack. The Dey incident fetches to the foreground the issue of security which needs to be addressed with urgency.
When a guard commits a felony, all he does is pack bag and scoot out of Mumbai and there’s poor little reason for him to feel any sense of fear in doing so. After all, nobody has even bothered to ascertain his identity or origin. The security agency employing him is only concerned with the commission it draws from his salary and the society lives in fool’s paradise assuming that it’s safe and secure...till one fine Dey!
Jyotirmoy Dey’s murder in broad daylight at Powai brings to fore, once again, issues of security that housing societies across Mumbai sadly tend to overlook. Whether it’s the 26/11 terror blitzkrieg on the city that left hundreds dead or the murderous attack on the journalist, one thing stands. Suspect elements keeping a watch on a potential victim’s whereabouts and movements ought to have been nabbed earlier itself thereby averting the crime. But that, in itself, isn’t as easy as it sounds.
By law, besides being forced to do just an eight-hour shift, a guard is entitled to a weekly off too. You can’t make a watchman work for 12-hour shifts for days on end without giving him a break. It has been decided that if a Security Guard is found sleeping while on duty or not found at his work place at the time of Night Checking by the Inspectors of the Security Guards Board for Brihan Mumbai and Thane District, the concerned Security Guard will be liable to fine for such misconduct, equivalent of four (4) days’ wages.
But then, with motivated authorities more than keen to turn a blind eye to the sleepy activities of watchmen, the law is given the convenient go-by. This anomaly gathers further momentum with the absence of authorities to regularise the guard-society arrangements. There is also a pressing need to keep identity records of watchmen/guards working at societies through the intervention of the local police who should be involved at all times.
Cooperative housing societies risk life and property directly by employing shady fly-by-night security agencies to provide them services at low cost and untaxed/unbilled arrangements. Worse still, they don’t bother checking its credentials. While the instances of watchmen and security personnel directly involved in acts of brutality, murder and robbery targeting the very members they are supposed to protect, society officials continue to flagrantly violate the law governing security personnel which is well in place too.
While, cooperative housing societies, on their part, are not covered by The Maharashtra Private Security Guards (Regulation of Employment and Welfare) Act, 1981 that was passed with retrospective effect from 29th June, 1981 as they don’t qualify as either ‘factories’ or ‘establishments’ under the law and hence don’t have to complete any formalities. That however, doesn’t stop them from scrutinising the credentials of the security agency making tall claims of having offered services to factories / establishments / shops / commercial chains. The agency HAS to be registered – by law - with the Security Guards Board of Brihan Mumbai and Thane District.
Under the act, both the Principal Employer and the Employer Agency have to get registered with the Board. The security guards of the employers should open their individual Saving Bank Accounts in Union Bank of India which is near to the place of their posting. After opening individual Saving Bank Accounts, they should submit the list of their Account Numbers alongwith their Name and Registration Numbers to the Board. The cheques of the payment are distributed from 5th to 12th and thereafter on Tuesday and Friday upto 25th of every month on receipt of Wages and Levy cheques by the Board. Even for disbursement of cheques, the guards need to present their Identity Cards.
A list of office orders for the security staff for factories and establishments includes:
a) The Security Staff must report for their duties atleast 15 minutes early, so as to take charge properly.
b) The Security Staff shall be in proper and clean uniform and cleanly shaved while on duty.
c) The Security Staff shall behave politely, attentively and in disciplined manner while on duty.
d) No Security Guard shall leave his respective check post unless/otherwise asked by his immediate Superior in the Shift, failing which the Superiors shall be held responsible.
e) The Security Staff shall preserve their Identity Cards, while on duty and while coming to the Office of the Board.
f) No Security Guard shall leave his duty unless the reliever or the next shift Security Guard relieves him.
g) No Security Guard shall proceed on leave or remain absent without prior sanction or intimation to the Management
h) Leave application shall be forwarded to the Board in prescribed form devised by the Board.
i) Leave application for more than four days shall be submitted through Unit In-charge and Management, such application with their recommendation should be sent to the Board atleast seven (7) days in advance, so as to make necessary arrangement for substitute. The Security Guard shall proceed on Leave only after confirming sanction of his leave.
Sounds like a tall order doesn’t it, at least for the present lot of watchmen we’re forced to deal with, right? But then, that’s the law, well in place for you. Societies don’t HAVE to deal with shabby watchmen, leaving their sites at the drop of a hat, scratching away at unmentionables in full public view and more.
All they need to do is establish their credentials by visiting any of their ‘factory’ or ‘establishment’ sites and double-check their claims; insist on copies of documents that they have provided the police while applying for a license; draw up a detailed legal agreement between the society and the agency enlisting the list of pertinent office orders among the string laid down by the statute with list of corresponding penalties and ensure it delivers.
If you have a housing society related query or need a legal consultation on a related matter, you may fill this Query Form or visit www.SocietyMatters.in
• On Jan 9th 2009, a security guard robbed film producer Sajid Nadiadwala and his wife Wardha at gunpoint of Rs.10 lakh in cash and Rs.40 lakh jewellery. Three days later, the culprit along with two other accomplices was nabbed. The police recovered Rs 7.1 lakh in cash and the full Rs 40 lakh worth jewellery and the state initiated action against Tiger Security which had deployed the guard.
• In February 2011, the Vakola police arrested a school security guard on charges of raping a three-year-old student. The child was a junior KG student of Kalina Education Society School’s English medium section. The security guard, Telam Singh, who has worked at the school for three decades, reportedly committed the crime in a toilet in the school.
• In 2011, the Pune crime branch (rural) claimed to have solved the rape of 29-year-old employee of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL). Police arrested a 22-year-old security guard who was posted in the private valley owned by the Sahara Group. The accused, identified as Dharmendrakumar Rambhau Chaudhari was an employee of Front Line Security Guard Company and was currently residing at the Valley but is a native of Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. He had been working at Amby Valley for the last two years.
• Security guard, Ashok Bapurao Khunte of Pandavnagar, at the Mahila Sewa Mandal Ashram was arrested by the police for repeatedly raping a 27-year-old inmate.
What was more shocking than senior journalist Jyotirmoy Dey being shot in broad daylight on a bustling Powai road was the fact that despite scores of witnesses not a single person come forward to testify against the assailants. There were security personnel in and around the area…guards and watchmen outside ATMs even food courts but all maintained a stoic silence.
Footage from several CCTV cameras in the area, particularly a clip of four minutes from a camera installed near HSBC Bank reveal the assailants had parked their bike and were waiting outside a pizza joint for three and a half minutes before seeing Dey arrive when they left.
Whether the assailants belonged to an underworld gang or was a hired local killer; or the act triggered by personal enmity or work-related rivalry notwithstanding, fact remains that the prospects of a common man’s security in the city are highly suspect.
Mumbai’s police are usually very swift to insist “you” provide details of your domestic help that include a photograph and proof of residence and identity to the nearest police station “to insure yourself against crime.” Conveniently disregarding the string of incidents that point towards the soaring rate of crime, the city police continue to turn a blind eye to the verification and authentication processes that ought to precede the appointment of ‘security guards and watchmen in residential and commercial premises throughout the metropolis.’
Despite a surge in the number security guards in just about every housing colony and society in the city, the incidence of crime soar unabated holding the city’s peace at ransom.
Under the Private Securities Agencies Registration Act (2005), security agencies are mandatorily expected to be registered with the state Home Department and need to provide basic training to their employees in safety measures, crowd control and fire-fighting during emergencies. Just a fraction of the swarm of security services employed are registered with the state Home Department with most of them carrying on their ‘business’ at sweet will.
Employing security personnel is no insurance against theft or crime as the number of pretexts they have in their kitty far outnumber any allegations of non-performance. The Home Ministry just has to issue orders to the Mumbai Police Commissioner who may act suo moto making it mandatory for the city’s cooperative housing societies to ensure the registration of their security services and guards with the local police station.
Unless you are certain about your watchman’s credentials, having him keep a watch on your family’s movements is asking for trouble. After all, he knows just when your elderly parent, daughter or child is alone and vulnerable and it’s easy to attack. The Dey incident fetches to the foreground the issue of security which needs to be addressed with urgency.
When a guard commits a felony, all he does is pack bag and scoot out of Mumbai and there’s poor little reason for him to feel any sense of fear in doing so. After all, nobody has even bothered to ascertain his identity or origin. The security agency employing him is only concerned with the commission it draws from his salary and the society lives in fool’s paradise assuming that it’s safe and secure...till one fine Dey!
Jyotirmoy Dey’s murder in broad daylight at Powai brings to fore, once again, issues of security that housing societies across Mumbai sadly tend to overlook. Whether it’s the 26/11 terror blitzkrieg on the city that left hundreds dead or the murderous attack on the journalist, one thing stands. Suspect elements keeping a watch on a potential victim’s whereabouts and movements ought to have been nabbed earlier itself thereby averting the crime. But that, in itself, isn’t as easy as it sounds.
By law, besides being forced to do just an eight-hour shift, a guard is entitled to a weekly off too. You can’t make a watchman work for 12-hour shifts for days on end without giving him a break. It has been decided that if a Security Guard is found sleeping while on duty or not found at his work place at the time of Night Checking by the Inspectors of the Security Guards Board for Brihan Mumbai and Thane District, the concerned Security Guard will be liable to fine for such misconduct, equivalent of four (4) days’ wages.
But then, with motivated authorities more than keen to turn a blind eye to the sleepy activities of watchmen, the law is given the convenient go-by. This anomaly gathers further momentum with the absence of authorities to regularise the guard-society arrangements. There is also a pressing need to keep identity records of watchmen/guards working at societies through the intervention of the local police who should be involved at all times.
Cooperative housing societies risk life and property directly by employing shady fly-by-night security agencies to provide them services at low cost and untaxed/unbilled arrangements. Worse still, they don’t bother checking its credentials. While the instances of watchmen and security personnel directly involved in acts of brutality, murder and robbery targeting the very members they are supposed to protect, society officials continue to flagrantly violate the law governing security personnel which is well in place too.
While, cooperative housing societies, on their part, are not covered by The Maharashtra Private Security Guards (Regulation of Employment and Welfare) Act, 1981 that was passed with retrospective effect from 29th June, 1981 as they don’t qualify as either ‘factories’ or ‘establishments’ under the law and hence don’t have to complete any formalities. That however, doesn’t stop them from scrutinising the credentials of the security agency making tall claims of having offered services to factories / establishments / shops / commercial chains. The agency HAS to be registered – by law - with the Security Guards Board of Brihan Mumbai and Thane District.
Under the act, both the Principal Employer and the Employer Agency have to get registered with the Board. The security guards of the employers should open their individual Saving Bank Accounts in Union Bank of India which is near to the place of their posting. After opening individual Saving Bank Accounts, they should submit the list of their Account Numbers alongwith their Name and Registration Numbers to the Board. The cheques of the payment are distributed from 5th to 12th and thereafter on Tuesday and Friday upto 25th of every month on receipt of Wages and Levy cheques by the Board. Even for disbursement of cheques, the guards need to present their Identity Cards.
A list of office orders for the security staff for factories and establishments includes:
a) The Security Staff must report for their duties atleast 15 minutes early, so as to take charge properly.
b) The Security Staff shall be in proper and clean uniform and cleanly shaved while on duty.
c) The Security Staff shall behave politely, attentively and in disciplined manner while on duty.
d) No Security Guard shall leave his respective check post unless/otherwise asked by his immediate Superior in the Shift, failing which the Superiors shall be held responsible.
e) The Security Staff shall preserve their Identity Cards, while on duty and while coming to the Office of the Board.
f) No Security Guard shall leave his duty unless the reliever or the next shift Security Guard relieves him.
g) No Security Guard shall proceed on leave or remain absent without prior sanction or intimation to the Management
h) Leave application shall be forwarded to the Board in prescribed form devised by the Board.
i) Leave application for more than four days shall be submitted through Unit In-charge and Management, such application with their recommendation should be sent to the Board atleast seven (7) days in advance, so as to make necessary arrangement for substitute. The Security Guard shall proceed on Leave only after confirming sanction of his leave.
Sounds like a tall order doesn’t it, at least for the present lot of watchmen we’re forced to deal with, right? But then, that’s the law, well in place for you. Societies don’t HAVE to deal with shabby watchmen, leaving their sites at the drop of a hat, scratching away at unmentionables in full public view and more.
All they need to do is establish their credentials by visiting any of their ‘factory’ or ‘establishment’ sites and double-check their claims; insist on copies of documents that they have provided the police while applying for a license; draw up a detailed legal agreement between the society and the agency enlisting the list of pertinent office orders among the string laid down by the statute with list of corresponding penalties and ensure it delivers.
If you have a housing society related query or need a legal consultation on a related matter, you may fill this Query Form or visit www.SocietyMatters.in
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