In what is seen as a major step to provide jobs to locals in security agencies, the state government has put in place a new condition for obtaining a licence to set up a private security agency. The new stipulation states that at least 50% of the private security guards and supervisors engaged by a private security agency should be local residents.
The government notified the changes made to the Goa Private Security Agencies Rules, 2008, in the official gazette recently.
The new clause added to Rule 13 states that the private security agency licence holder would have to ensure that the persons to be employed or engaged as a supervisor or a private security guard is a resident of Goa for at least five years. In 2005, the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005, was enacted by the Centre, providing for the regulation of private security agencies. The Goa Private Security Agencies Rules were notified in 2008. Since then, no person could open a security agency without obtaining a licence.
An official said that, basically, the concern of the government is safety of the people hired by the security agencies. The role of private security personnel came under the scanner during the police investigation in the sensational murder of the perfumer Monika Gurde in Sangolda in October 2016. It was found that the security guard of the building where she resided – Rajkumar Singh from Punjab – had allegedly committed the murder.
