The Maharashtra Government is set to cancel exemption given to security agencies found violating provisions of security guards act.
Under section 23 of the Maharashtra Security Guards Act, 1981, security agencies are exempted from registering each security guards with the state-run Security Guard Board if they follow certain provisions of the Act.
The Act applies to agencies engaging almost five lakh private security guards in the state.
“The exemption is necessary under the Act for engaging individual guards in premises, not only to ensure that they receive basic minimum wages, but also to ensure the security of premises as police verification is carried out for each guard before granting him an exemption,” Principal Secretary (Labour), Kavita Gupta told PTI.
During inspections conducted to check whether private agencies comply with provisions of the Act, it was found that several agencies were violating the provisions.
“This is not only violation of labour rights but also a major security threat, in the backdrop of recent terror attacks, as the guards engaged by these agencies may have criminals or even terrorist background,” she said.
An agency called C D Safety and Security Services, operated by Gurcharan Singh Chauhan, President of the Security Association of India, was found to be “blatantly violating norms at eight places where it provided security guards,” the senior IAS official said.
The lacunae ranged from non-issuance of identity cards for the guards, non-grant of weekly off, failure to provide free uniform, no provident fund account for guards, no fixed working hours and no paid leave.
