| Points Raised by Industry |
The size of the Industry is approximately Rs 21,000 Crores as on date and is projected to be worth Rs 40,000 Crores by the year 2010. We contribute approximately Rs 5,000 Crores as Provident Fund, Rs 3,000 Crores as Service Tax and Rs 2,000 Crores as ESI annually. |
Our work force numbers approximately 50 Lakhs with an annualized growth rate of 20%. In giving sustenance to approximately 2 Crore of India’s population, this Industry has not sought any support from the Planning Commission. |
Industry welcomes the Act but there is a slight sense of insecurity as they are soon to be regulated and there is fear of the unknown. Support of the Government is required in ensuring the implementation of the PSAR Act in the correct letter and spirit. |
Home Ministry should take this work force under its wing and utilise them for gathering intelligence and in support of law enforcement. We could help in internal security as well as disaster management. |
| Code of Ethics. We have a Code of Ethics, Conduct Rules and Discipline and Appeal Rules that are binding on all our members. Copy of each is attached as Appendix A, B and C respectively. |
| Draft Bill – Private Investigators. APDI has made a draft, which might be considered by the Ministry of Home Affairs while preparing the Bill for Private Investigators. Copy is attached at Appendix D. |
| Jagte Raho Abhiyaan. This is being launched from today and our entire work force across the nation will become more vigilant so as to report any untoward happening to law enforcers. The threat from within has to be reduced. |
| The Government should make a small council of ex-Service and Police officers, who can advise them on how best to utilize the services of Private Security and Private Investigators. |
| Support for Civil Defence. Instead of recruiting people from the general public, whose antecedents will have to be checked, the Government must utilize our services and adequately train us well in advance. |
| Disaster Management. A trained work force of 50 lakhs is a tremendous strength that must be used whenever disaster strikes. Though they do help even now, as do NGOs and the general public, a trained work force spread across the country can substantially cut down on critical reaction times. |
| 2007 – Private Security Year. Industry has declared 2007 as “Private Security Year”. This is being given wide publicity across the country. |
| State Chapters. CAPSI & APDI shall continue to spread this awareness across the country by organizing regular smaller conferences in each state between the service provider, the end user and the Controlling Authority. |
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| Opinion of Shri Shivraj V. Patil |
| Hon’ble Union Minister of Home Affairs |
The Internal Security situation in the country is good and 95% of the population is peace loving. Security scenario requires vigilance, attention and efforts from individuals, groups, Government and entire society. |
Security is the responsibility or every individual and unless they have a strong mental frame of mind, no amount of security is adequate. Do not let fear psychosis overpower you. Though the number of terror incidents has gone down the ‘terror quantum’ appears to have gone up. This needs to be curbed. |
Provision of security rests with the state governments, which is assisted by the central government, when needed. The union and state police forces total about 22 lakhs and I am very much impressed by this figure of 50 Lakhs as private security work force. |
Even this may not be enough, so it is necessary for us to evolve mechanisms for getting more security when needed, for which we will encourage private security agencies. |
| One of the intentions in making the PSAR Act, apart from regulating agencies working in unethical and wanton manner, was to encourage them to be established and be useful to the public at large. This is the positive side of the act. We would like to weed out agencies not conducting themselves in the interest of the ordinary citizen and of society. |
| Regulations can be misused sometimes and it shall be the duty of the Government to ensure that good agencies are not adversely affected by the misinterpretation of the law. |
Government has machinery at the national and state levels to collect information but this cannot be available everywhere and actionable information is sometimes not available. Here, more private detective agencies can be helpful and the Government does not want to control their numbers; rather they will be encouraged, provided that they conduct themselves in a befitting manner and the power given to them is not misused. |
| Inputs for Detective Bill. The Government will be happy to receive inputs for the Detective Bill both from Private Investigators in India as well as they would like to study similar bills of foreign countries. Government’s approach is to create and Act that is conducive for development, rather than for restraining or regulating. |
| The Government is considering a new Police Act and one issue being discussed by experts is whether the Police is a Force or a Service. If it is only a Force, it will not be useful but if it is a service where force will not be used, will it be useful? Because even to serve, force has to be used against miscreants. So something of a combination has to be created and law is an act of balancing the different interests of society. |
| Regarding Private Security and Private Investigation. Private Security and Private Investigation are an Industry and they are a Force, but the Government shall have to consider before accepting them as a Profession. Doctors, Lawyers and Military are professionals and maybe it would be best if Private Security considers itself as a mix of Industry, Force, Service and a business. |
| Self-Regulation. Government is in the process of making a law for Private Investigators and has accepted the concept that Law can help but only by law, we should not help. Self-regulation is important. Government expects Private Security and private Investigation to be self-regulated rather than be regulated by law. If Government finds that self-regulation is not working, it shall be duty bound to approach the court to decide whether the agencies have functioned properly. |
| Regarding Ex-Service and Police Officers. If ex-Service and Police personnel are assisting agencies in their functioning, the Government’s view will be to rely on them to be correct and useful, rather than those who will misuse their power. |
| Partnership between Industry and Government. Let all individuals and groups do their best and the Government shall encourage them with the rider that they should protect the interests of the public. This is not about sitting across the table but of a partnership between individuals/private enterprise and the Government. |
| Holding further Conferences. CAPSI & APDI should hold more such conferences in the states and spread the awareness. They should keep the Government informed about their considered views and the Government will surely take these inputs into consideration to improve the law or the manner of dealing with such issues. |
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| Opinion of Mr Ajay Maken |
| Minister of State, Urban Development, Govt. of India |
It is heartening to note that this sector employs 50 Lakh persons and generates revenues of 21,000 Crores, which is likely to increase to 40,000 Crores in the year 2010. This sector is one of the largest Service Tax payers in the country. |
The future lies in this sector and I am a very big supporter of this sector. |
Ever since the concept of globalisation, service delivery mechanisms have needed to be improved and I do not mean only Municipal but also policing, law and order, investigation, etc. |
The biggest casualty of efficiency is monopoly. Wherever private players are stopped from competing with the Government, in those sectors efficiency is the biggest casualty. |
| In the near future, I see that policing, law and order, and investigation into crime will witness stiff competition from Private Security and Private Investigation. |
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| Opinion of Mr Tariq Anwar, MP |
I am pleased to know that the size of this industry is so large and that you want your own syllabus, self-regulation and most important, credibility.
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The government does not have the infrastructure to handle the security scenario prevailing in today’s circumstances and it is necessary to take the support of Private Security and Private Investigators. This will reduce the load on law-enforcement and also be less burdensome on the exchequer. |
Forward regular comments and inputs to Members of Parliament so that whenever there are discussions in Parliament, we can participate with prior education on these issues. |
Social harmony is very important and the Government and Private Security should coordinate well. Government agencies are not geared up to get information on terrorist activities in time and this can be augmented by private Investigation |
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| Opinion of Major Dalbir Singh |
If we have to continue to grow as one of the major countries in the new global economy, we have to see security as one of the major imperatives, because peace and development co-exist. For development to sustain we have to continue to grow at 8-9%. |
We do have problems internally in many parts of the country and some are home-grown, while some are exported from our neighbouring countries. The East is a major area of concern. |
We need to have a unified command for intelligence gathering, collation and sharing. The Army has its own structure, but law and order is a state subject and various gaps need to be filled. This can only be done by laying down clear-cut procedures. |
Value for money. This is an important point raised in the conference. Security provided by the government costs the exchequer about Rs 15,000 per guard while the same is available through private security for as little as Rs 6,000 to 7,000 per month. Government security also tends to get system oriented, resulting in a drop in performance. |
| Private Security Agencies should help promote Public-Private joint ventures as in the US where many public services are privatized. |
| It is a very important factor that the Private Security Industry is contributing Rs 3,000 Crores as Service Tax and this is about 7-8% of the entire Service Tax in the country. |
| Our 1.5 million strong army has almost 45% of its strength deployed in counter insurgency operations and this is greatly responsible for its fatigue. This enormous burden can be reduced with the support of Private Security. |
| Communal problems are another area where Private Security can help. Local police are parochial and have a sub-regional identity and they tend to identify with the locals. Private Security is multi cultural and reflects the unity and diversity of India. |
| The state police force is not even half the strength of Private Security. A special role needs to be earmarked for Private Security to assist the state police force. |
| The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Delhi has adopted a very effective scheme called the Bhagyadari Scheme, which involves the RWAs, local police as well as the public. Private Security should also be co-opted in this scheme. |
| Disaster Management is a very important aspect where Private Security can assist since disasters strike us at regular intervals. Clear modalities for this need to be worked out and adequate training must be given to Private Security agencies. |
| The aspect of credibility is important and Private Security agencies must ensure that they project an image of being credible by their actions. |
| It is very good that an Academy of Intelligence Management is being opened – which should get ratification and then those who complete the programmes should be given certification. This will also add to the credibility aspect. |
| Once the Government is satisfied about the quality, Private Security and Investigators can be co-opted in filling the gaps in terms of monitoring mechanism, surveillance, intelligence gathering, analysis of information, relief work, disaster management, etc. Have a trained work force and become part of the process. |
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| APDI & CAPSI Requests |
Support by Ministry of Home Affairs. Kindly support the conduct of all our state conferences as formally “Supported by Ministry of Home Affairs”. This will add immense sense of credibility to all our conferences and will attract the service provider and user alike, which will greatly assist in achieving our primary aim of spreading widespread awareness. We are not requesting for any financial support. |
Implementation of PSAR Act. Though the Model Rules of the Centre have been formulated, some of the clauses of the Act that need a rethink in the views of Industry be discussed and after discussion, be disseminated to the state governments. For this, the Ministry of Home Affairs is request to invite an Industry delegation for discussion. |
Bill for Private Investigators. The Authority entrusted with drafting the Bill for Private |
Jagte Raho Abhiyaan. The Government is requested to endorse our Jagte Raho Abhiyaan in all states. |
| Private Security Year 2007. The Government is requested to announce 2007 as ‘Private Security Year’ in view of the compliance date of 15 March 2007 of the PSAR Act. |
| Recognition of CAPSI & APDI. The government is requested to recognize CAPSI & APDI as the two associations that represent Private Security and Private Investigation respectively. |
| Civil Defence. Kindly examine the manner in which Private Security and Private Investigation can be incorporated in the Civil Defence plan of the country and permit the setting up of a group of CAPSI/APDI representatives who can regularly interact with the concerned officials and be part of select meetings. |
| Disaster Management. Kindly examine the setting up of a group of CAPSI/APDI representatives who can become part of the Disaster Management Cell at the central level. |
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