In a move, which could badly hit the security industry in Goa, the Central government has asked the State to make it mandatory that all security guards employed by private security agencies are trained by a recognised institute.
In a letter, dated September 7, 2015 to the Goa government, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Dy Secretary Amrik Singh said that it has been brought to the notice of the MHA that untrained staff is being employed by private agencies as security guards. “As per Section 8 of the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act, 2005, every private security agency shall ensure imparting of prescribed training and skills to its private security guards and supervisors.”
“The matter regarding engagement of untrained security guards/supervisors by some establishment has been brought to the Ministry of Home Affairs. All State governments or controlling authorities are therefore advised to strictly ensure that private security guards are mandatorily imparted training by registered training institutes before their appointment as security guards as prescribed in the Private Security Agencies (Regulation) Act 2005, and related state rules,” the letter reads.
Herald inquires reveal that there are only around nine security agencies registered with the government.
“Sixty applications for licences are in the process. Six have been rejected as they did not meet the requirements,” sources said. Officials say there are around 10,000 security guards employed throughout Goa but over 50 per cent are untrained and only appointed as bouncers on the basis of their physique without any proper training. “We do not have any training institute for security persons. As such many private agencies employ ex-servicemen who conduct their own training,” sources added.
When contacted for his comments Additional Home Secretary Sanjiv Gadkar admitted receiving the communiqué from the Centre. “We have received the letter and we will now write to all the agencies to henceforth employ only trained staff and the existing staff must be trained at the earliest,” he said. When pointed out that there is no institute to train security guards in Goa, Gadkar said, “There are three applications but we have not considered them as they do not meet the requirements,” he stated.
