Labour Inspectors sleep as Private Security guards earn meager salaries!

Labour Inspectors sleep as Private Security guards earn meager salaries!
No Weekly off, No PF, No insurance, 10-12 hrs of duty
By PRABEER SIKDAR
DEHRADUN, 1 Apr 2009:
They work in glitzy places like shopping malls, ATM centres, banks, Jewellery shops… but they lead a pathetic existence at their work places - no weekly offs, barely subsistence salaries, sometimes getting a pittance of Rs 2100 per month, 10-12 hours of minimum duty period, no PF, no bonuses, no insurance, etc.

Welcome to the world of private security guards, who can be seen well-dressed, sporting their company logos at important establishments like supermarkets, banks, jewellery shops … dotting the city. Their predicament makes one wonder whether there is really a Labour Department in the State to look after their welfare.
Garhwal Post survey
A small survey done by Garhwal Post on the work culture ‘enjoyed’ by private security guards revealed a very pathetic picture.
“I earn Rs 2100 per month (surely, less than what an agricultural labourer earns a day under the Minimum Wages Act),” said Ravinder Rawat (name changed) who works for a Doon based security agency named Green Fox, adding that he has been working as a guard for the last 12 years.
“Earlier, when I used to work at DEAL (he worked for 10 years there), I used to get Rs 4000. Later, I moved to my present agency after ex-servicemen were inducted as security guards there,” he added.
Apart from his negligible salary, Rawat reportedly does not have even a single day off. “The rule is simple. No work no pay,” he said. “Also we do not get any bonuses, no provision for PF, insurance, etc.”
The condition is also quite similar at a Rajpur Road based shopping mall, where more than a dozen security guards of the Delhi based Security Agency SISS Group work. “We work for 10-12 hours every day (including Sundays),” said Vikramjeet Singh Soni (real name), who works as a supervisor there.
According to Soni, who - as a supervisor - earns Rs 5400 per month, all the private security guards under him make about Rs 3500 per month. “The problem is that we sometimes have to wait for 50-55 days to get our salary despite the fact that our Security agency gets timely payment from the Mall owner,” he said.
Originally hailing from Solan, HP, Soni had migrated to Doon three years ago with his wife and two children, to earn a living. “I am living in a rented house, for which I pay Rs 1000. And, added to that, a part of my earning goes for the education of my eldest son, on whom I spend Rs 500 (Rs 200 as tuition fees),” he pointed out.
Ironically, all the security guards, before they were hired by the SISS Group Security Agency (as per an estimate there are over a dozen security agencies supplying private guards to commercial establishments, Banks, ATMs, Jewellery shops, etc., in the city) had to pay Rs 1000 to buy uniforms including paying Rs 200 as security deposits!
Another heartrending case was that of Chakrata’s Anil Bhatt (name changed), who has to tackle a double tragedy – one at home and another at his work place. “My parents live separately. With no rains this time, my mother and two younger brothers are struggling to make a living by working on our 8 acre piece of land in Chakrata,” he said, adding that he lives in a rented accommodation on DL Road (rent Rs 1500) along with his wife and two children – a four-year-old- son and two year-old-daughter.
In the Hotel where he reportedly worked earlier, before he joined the Security Agency a month ago, he made Rs 2900 a month. “Comparatively, the situation there was good as I got to enjoy a paid weekly off in addition to PF deduction of Rs 200 (the employer also contributed Rs 200).”
“But, why did you quit?”
“I wanted three days leave, which they refused.” Nonetheless, my decision to quit also forced me to forfeit my last month’s salary as well as the entire amount that my employer owed me under PF deductions made during my last 4 years as a waiter.”
“My employer told me to cough up Rs 10,000 to get back my PF deposits.”
Job benefits!
Apart from delayed salary, all the private guards slogging it out here as well as inmost other places of the city, neither get paid holidays (not even once a month) nor are eligible for any PF deductions or bonuses or yearly increments.
Significantly, two lady security guards posted at Vishal Mega Mart get Rs 3000 a month, Rs 500 less than what their male counterparts get. “We do not get any insurance, neither life nor health. So, if anything happens to us on the way, or to our family members, we just have the Doon Hospital,” said the frail looking Soni.
Our take
Notwithstanding the Labour Minister’s defensive posture, what is worth noting is that most of the security guards have low levels of literacy rate. Since most of them have not even completed matriculation, it is not surprising if they do not know whom to approach to register their complaints.
“For the job of a Security Supervisor one needs to have passed 10th class, while for Security Guards, those who have completed class V are eligible,” said Soni.
According to Virendra Bhandari, CITU State Secretary, there are only 11 Labour Inspectors in the State. “In Dehradun, there are only 4 Labour Inspectors,” he told Garhwal Post, pointing out that the numbers were grossly inadequate.
“Their numbers have remained more or less the same as in the erstwhile UP period,” said Samar Bhandari, CPI State Secretary, while blaming Security Agencies for fudging their employee muster rolls. He also said that many labourers were working for as little as Rs 2000-2500 in SIDCUL areas.
When contacted, Sarit Sharma, a practicing advocate, said, “All the violations are fit for trial in a Labour Court. As things stand, while PF deduction does not apply for a small work force, no employee can be denied weekly off by their employers. Similarly, by virtue of security duty coming under Skilled category, they deserve better salaries as per law,” he clarified.
So, does somebody care? God knows!
http://www.garhwalpost.com/index.php?mod=article&cat=Dehradun&article=70