State security corp to hire 5,000 guards

Over a year after its creation, the Maharashtra State Security Corporation (MSSC) has begun the process to hire security guards and officers for the protection of government offices and vital installations. In August, it will hold its first examination to recruit officers and guards.

“We will be inducting retired officers and guards from paramilitary and armed forces. We can also take policemen on deputation. The police department will have to fill up the posts it deputes to the corporation,’’ said managing director P K Jain. Set up in April last, the corporation’s board comprises bureaucrats and IPS officers of Maharashtra cadre.

“Currently, 2,000 policemen in Mumbai alone are posted for the security of government offices and installations. Nearly 350 of them are posted in Mantralaya, the state government headquarters. The idea is that police personnel engaged in security jobs will be available for law and order and crime detection functions once MSSC takes over the security role,’’ Jain said.

The corporation will provide security to government and semi-government offices and courts and will function akin to the Central Industrial Security Force. It also hopes to take security jobs at private offices, malls and multiplexes. However, the police will retain task of protecting VVIPs.

There are over 14 lakh private security guards in the state.

Jain said, “You can’t compare a private security guard with the police. The costs will be higher, but the training and quality of a government guard will be better.’’ For instance, Mumbai police charged Rs 1,200 for releasing each policeman for a eight-hour shift. Private firms charge a fourth of that sum, or, even lesser, he said.