July 15: When the sun goes down and the workers go home, the industrial compounds put on a haunted look. The hustle and bustle of the morning gives way to an eerie silence. The place looks prone to all sort of mischief. But for a few men-the private security guards- who are trained and posted by various security agencies to protect the industry, anything can happen.

With the increase in crime, the demand for industrial security is on the rise and the business for the agencies providing security is thriving.

J D Bhasin, proprietor of Elite Industrial Security, Lajpat Nagar, says a deteriorating law and order situation in the country, was fuelling their business. "Every body has suddenly become extremely security conscious. Demand for industrial along with personal security has shot sky high."

Managing Director of Institute of Industrial Management Govindam Soman believes that the public's growing disenchantment with the government machinery is the real reason behind the increasing demand for industrial security. "People have lost faith in the police and have accepted the fact that if they want protection they themselves have to take action. That is why they come to us."

The industries have to be protected as much against internal pilferage as outside thefts, feels Bhasin. "Because the goods produced in the industries are handled in bulk by the workers, it is not very difficult for them to remove some to take back home." Guards are therefore required all the time to keep a close watch on the workers and also conduct searches, if necessary.

V K Mishra, senior executive in Admire Security and Detectives Pvt. Ltd., Lajpat Nagar, enumerates the ways in which security guards help the industrial areas. "The guards are well equipped to handle emergency situations like fire or bomb scare. They help vacate the premises during such situations by making people use the emergency exits, etc."

Security guards also help at the time of accidents. "When a worker gets hurt, it is natural for the co-workers to panic. The guards take charge of the situation and promptly take the required measures," says Mishra. Security personnel are extremely helpful in stopping fights and squabbles that take place in the work place.

Contacting agencies to provide industrial security can at times be better than directly recruiting trained personnel. In an in-house journal published by Security and Intelligence Services (India) Limited (SIS), the operations manager, R K Kanth writes about a situation where the security guards employed by a unit had joined in the labour unrest, and there was total chaos. The Indian Aluminium Company Ltd., which was facing this crisis, contacted SIS requesting them to supply 20 security staff, on emergency basis. As the situation worsened, the number of guards were increased and dogs with handlers were also deployed. After some time, when the situation cooled off, the number of guards were decreased. This kind of flexibility is made possible only by security agencies.

Who do the agencies hire as security guards? "Healthy young men who answer our advertisements and who we find satisfactory," replies Mishra. "We have professionals who give the guards one week of rigourous training and they are taught all that is required of any competent security guard."

Bhasin agrees with Mishra. According to him seven days of serious training is enough to teach the guards the tricks of the trade.

Soman, however, appears to be more thorough. "The civilians employed by my agency are trained for 45 days. We don't send them to industries as guards, until we are sure of their capabilities." The trained personnel that the Institute of Industrial Management recruits are sent by the Defence Empanneled Group.

Once on duty, the job of the security guards is no cakewalk. They have to handle difficult situations which sometimes can even pose a threat to their lives. What steps do the security agencies take in this regard? "In addition to good pay packets, we also get the lives of the guards insured, so that their families don't have to suffer if some untoward incident takes place," says Soman. Soman's agency also gets the goods of its client's industry insured against theft and damage.

With a steep increase in the demand for security guards for industries, many new agencies finding the line profitable are fast coming up. Mishra feels that this rapid increase in competition is affecting his business to a certain extent. Many of the new comers view this line as a side business, good for making a few fast bucks. "These agencies provide their sub-standard services at a very cheap rate and many clients who don't know any better go to them." But, Mishra contends that the clients who once come to his agency, are so delighted by the efficiency of the guards he provides, that they become his customers for ever.

Bhasin and Soman share this view. The agencies which act responsibly and provide good services are the ones which survive in the long run, they believe. This is what has helped them beat the cut-throat competition.

For SIS, the problem is slightly different. It is not so much troubled by competitors, as by the policies of the government which is cutting down their business. The government has recently passed a law stating that all the government-run institutions, including PSUs, have to employ guards from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), a government organsation. "We had to give up the ITDC contract for providing security to their hotels and offices throughout India, which we had bagged with a lot of effort," laments Tapan Sharma, Delhi region Vice President.

Nevertheless, with the large number of private industries coming up, this provision is not really posing a threat to private security agencies. In fact, for the future, there is only one way for these agencies to look- upwards.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.