Indian Express 14.06.2010
BMC banks on pvt security agencies to fill 700 posts
Stuti Shukla Tags : security Posted: Mon Jun 14 2010, 03:48 hrs
Mumbai: To fill the 700-odd vacancies in its security department at the earliest, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is planning to rope in private security agencies. The civic body is seeking to privatise a sizable percentage of the municipal security force.Out of the 4,000 security personnel posts, 3,300 are filled while the rest have been vacant for over two years now. Arguing that the procedure of hiring and training 700 personnel will require at least a year and in order to not compromise security at municipal locations, these services will be privatized for a period of one year.
However, the employed security guards are apprehensive of the move and feel it is the first step in slowly handing over the entire department to private security firms.
Deputy municipal commissioner in charge of the security department Chandrashekhar Rokde said that there was urgent requirement of security personnel in the municipal hospitals and at the octroi nakas. Besides 915 security points across the three major municipal hospitals attached to medical colleges, and 16 peripheral suburban hospitals, there is a need for 500 more security guards. In addition, to reduce evasion of octroi at the check-posts and to improve vigilance, the assessment and collection department also demanded 200 more security guards for the five check-posts.
“Following the High Court’s orders to improve security at municipal hospitals because of the theft of a four-year-old baby girl in January 2009, we felt an urgent need to up the security. If we follow the routine procedure of hiring guards and training them for a period of six months, it will easily take another year to fill these many vacancies. Therefore, for a period of one year, private security guards will occupy the vacant posts till the time we hire people through our normal procedure,” said Rokde.
The private guards will work under the higher-ups of the security department, he added. Tenders were floated for the same last month and six private security firms have shown interest.
However, the existing security personnel are not a happy lot. They fear losing their jobs to private agencies in a gradual manner. A security guard employed at the municipal head quarters CST said that the privatization of a part of the municipal security force is being perceived as a threat by them. “How can we be sure that after one year they will terminate the contract of the private firm and handover the jobs back to us?” said a guard requesting anonymity.
