The government of Telangana has revised the minimum wages of people employed in the security services sector. In a notification issued, the government of Telangana has specified that the revision will be in the basic wages as well as the cost of living allowance.
The notification says that the minimum basic rates of wages fixed are linked to the Consumer Price Index Numbers for the Industrial workers at 1501 points (Base Year 1982=100 series). The Commissioner of Labour will notify the Cost of Living Allowance for every six months.
The gradation has been made dividing the security sector into 4 grades of “Highly skilled”; “Skilled”, “Semi Skilled” and “Unskilled”. The notification specifies that the revision will include ex-servicemen, guards with and without arms, watchmen and other categories of people employed in the security services sector.
The Basic Wages for different categories in the state is fixed as follows:
• Chief Security Officer under the Highly Skilled –I category – Rs. 39,837 per month.
• The Highly Skilled –II category which includes Security Field Officer, Fire Fighting Personal, Marshal, and Security Guard With Arms (Ex.Serviceman) will be entitled to Rs. 35,254 per month.
• The Highly Skilled –III category which includes Security Officer, Security Inspector, Security Incharge, and Security Guard without arms (Ex.Serviceman) – Rs. 31,199 per month.
• The Highly Skilled –IV category which includes Shift Coordinator, Shift Incharge, Security Supervisor, Assistant Security Inspector, Assistant Security Officer, Security Head Guard, Security Guard With Arms – Rs 27,610 per month.
• The Skilled category includes Security Guard Without Arms, Head Watchman, Head Watch and Ward, Head Night-guard, and Head Chowkidar – Rs. 24,434 per month.
• The Semi-Skilled category includes Watchman, Watch and Ward, Night-guard, and Chowkidar – Rs. 21,623 per month.
• The Unskilled category that does not mentioned a person discharging the security function and includes work profiles such as Floor Sweeper, Housekeeper, and Safai Karmachari, Office Boys etc – Rs. 18,019
Significant in this notification is a clause that states that the principal employer is directly responsible for payment of wages to employees irrespective of employment through contractors or otherwise in case the contractors are not paid the minimum rates of wages or less payment to the workers.
Reacting to the notification Mr. C. Bhaskar Reddy, Chairman of the Hyderabad based Association of Private Security Agencies (AP & Telangana) which represents the security agencies based in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana welcomed this and said, “A security guard now doing an eight hour daily shift is likely to get paid Rs.25,000 per month as against Rs. 15,000 previously.” “This will result in making this an attractive work profile that will invite better trained talent into the private security industry and bring about the much deserved respectability to the manned guarding jobs,” he added.
