While the central government is still mulling a decision on the issue of treating private security guards as frontline workers to make them eligible for a priority in vaccination, Karnataka has taken a head start on the subject.
Karnataka has issued an order in which private security guards and housekeeping staff have been included as frontline workers and will now be given vaccines against Covid-19 on priority. The private security industry via its various forums have been exhorting the central government for the same but the government has still not taken a decision on the issue.
With Karnataka being the first state to give this status to private security guards on duty, chances are more states will take a cue and follow suit on the issue. While private security guards were given a variety of exemptions when the country went into periodic lockdowns in the last one year, their status as frontline workers was uncertain.
SECURITY TODAY welcomes the move of the government of Karnataka and hopes that other states will now take a cue from the Karnataka and issue state based orders to recognise security guards as frontline workers so that they can get vaccines on priority and in their arduous task of ensuring security of establishments, their lives are not under threat from the dreaded pandemic. It is learnt that the Karnataka Security Services Association (KSSA), a well established regional security trade association had a role to play in getting the private security service personnel this privilege
